American Independence day saw the start of the summer holidays in France and, potentially, the busiest day of the year for Charles de Gaulle Airport; a terrific day for the official opening of the French hub’s M&M’s ‘next generation’ store – a collaboration with Mars International Travel Retail and M&M’s World.

 

As previously reported, Aéroports de Paris expects up to 1m passengers this weekend alone and up to 17m during the summer period. Mars could not have picked a better time to promote it’s new store – although it has been trading for some weeks already.

 

Craig Sargeant, General Manager for MITR made it clear that although this is the first – of its kind – in European travel retail, it will not be the last. He confirmed today that another ‘next generation’ store like the one at CDG, will open at Schiphol in January. “The plans for this store are still in progress. You’d be surprised how many store iterations we go through before opening.”

 

MITR General Manager, Craig Sargeant spoke passionately about the brand today at CDG.

 

As previously mentioned the CDG store – which began trading in early June – is the result of a collaboration between MITR and M&M’s world, although it will not follow exactly the same principles at the ‘World’ stores in domestic markets such as those in London and New York.

 

“There is a heavier focus on merchandise in the domestic stores…at the end of the day our primary objective [in travel retail stores] is to sell chocolate.” Instead of a 60% merchandise/40% chocolate product split – which is found in the megastores – the travel retail stores will represent a higher percentage of confectionery.

 

Vincent Romet, Chief Operating Officer at LSTR’s EMEA region told TRBusiness that the new M&M’s store will benefit not only from the anticipated busy weekend (and summer) for ADP, but also the evolving passenger mix. “There are a lot of international passengers coming through here. A lot of passengers from the US, the Middle East and so on.”

 

In terms of courting the Asian consumers, ADP’s Franck le Gall, General Manager – Operational Unit, for Terminal 2 ABCD, revealed that Hainan airlines will soon be joining the ADP’s roster of carriers. However, Matthieu Daubert, Retail Director told TRBusiness that this could not yet be confirmed, but he did say that the new Mars store will benefit from those passengers flying with Cathay Pacific.

 

Vincent Romet, Chief Operating Officer at LSTR’s EMEA region

 

Romet said that LSTR is happy to partner with other brands in this way in the future, and revealed that there are plans, to open similar stand alone stores, in the pipeline. “We have had conversations with other brands, but it’s not easy to operate in an airport. Some brands think it’s going to be like operating downtown in a mall. When they get here they realize it is very different. It can be a challenge economically.”

 

He said that LSTR, the brands and the airport have to be pragmatic and flexible in its approach. Sargeant said that the strategy for M&M’s stores going forward, is clear. “We plan to open one per year…we will be opening one in Amsterdam next in January.”

 

Romet told journalists that initial results from the CDG store are very positive. “We are enjoying very good spend per pax which is a critical KPI.” Sargeant was keen to praise Mars for its support of TR. “I know that Mars is 100% supportive of our growth and development in travel retail. They really appreciate the value of this channel.”

 

Sargeant did say that the focus was not on an immediate return on investment; this is not expected for two years, a symptom of the existing business model. Mars hopes that the new store will not only increase penetration, but also encourage customer engagement with the brand. “I think confectionery brands need to work on bringing brands to life. It’s not all about product innovation, it’s about passenger confrontation.”

 

The opening event’s 80 attendees – made up of representatives from MITR, ADP, LSTR and journalists – were certainly fully engaged by the dance troupe which weaved its way, donned in M&M’s branded T-shirts, through the terminal. It’s hard to see, with the support of the airport and LSTR, how this new candy-coloured, Parisian-inspired store could be ignored.

 

The exclusive pick and mix feature of the new M&M’s store.