The new World Duty Free store features a bigger footprint and new brands.

Avolta has officially unveiled its new World Duty Free (WDF) store at Edinburgh Airport, following an extensive refurbishment. The retailer successfully extended its duty-free contract at the location in March this year. 

As part of that contract renewal, Avolta committed to expand the retail space by a further +30% to 1,740sqm, and introduce several new features and digital elements.

Avolta CEO for UK & Ireland Fred Creighton noted: “We are extremely proud of the valued and longstanding partnership we have with the Edinburgh airport team and are delighted to join them to officially open this exceptional new store.

Avolta promotes strong Sense of Place

“It conveys such a strong Sense of Place and really reflects the great spirit of Scotland. But more than that – it delivers an engaging, immersive and memorable in-store experience to our valued customers. At Avolta, we are committed to making travellers happier and we’re confident that this exciting new store space will do just that!”

Gail Taylor, Chief Commercial Officer (Non Aero) at Edinburgh Airport, commented: “We are thrilled with this refurbishment to our World Duty Free store with Avolta. It provides an enhanced and contemporary entrance to our departure lounge as we strive to provide the best experience for passengers.

Fred Creighton Avolta CEO – UK & Ireland and Gail Taylor – Chief Commercial Officer (Non-Aero) – Edinburgh Airport declare the new World Duty Free store officially open for business.

“By delivering an increased footprint, and introducing a host of fantastic new brands, there will now be more choice than ever before. The focus on Scottish produce is also something we’re really passionate about, allowing people to experience the very best our country has on offer and take a little piece of Scotland away with them.”

She concluded: “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Avolta, delivering even more fantastic experiences for our passengers in the years to come.”

A highlight of the redesigned store space is the 20sq m Edinburgh Gin Boutique, complete with tasting bar.

The store entrance incorporates a digitised fascia, which leads into an extensive World of Whiskies area – a key category for the WDF store in Scotland’s busiest airport. Strong personalised areas have been introduced for many key whisky brands, including shop-in-shop formats for Glenmorangie and Johnnie Walker.

These “boutique” style spaces invite customers to explore the full collections of whiskies each distillery has to offer, with tasting bars for sampling.

The revamped store incorporates an extensive World of Whiskies area, featuring strong personalisation from key whisky brands.

Additional services such as bottle engraving (courtesy of Glenmorangie), and the personalisation of leather luggage tags (by Johnnie Walker) are designed to elevate the shopping experience.

Another highlight of the redesigned store space is the Edinburgh Gin Boutique, complete with tasting bar. The 20sqm area was inspired by the design details of Edinburgh Gin’s new distillery and visitor centre, due to open later this year in Edinburgh.

Quirky shaggy highland cows and cute Scottie dog designs by the Scottish artist Gillian Kyle adorn a selection of the premium souvenir items on offer.

A series of exclusive Edinburgh gins are available to travellers. These include ‘The Meadows expression’ created exclusively for the location, which was inspired by the park in central Edinburgh.

The store’s beauty area has been revamped with more space and new brand introductions such as Charlotte Tilbury and Kylie. In response to customer demand, the main store also incorporates a wellness area, which features brands that are organic, natural, more ethically sourced, with environmentally friendly packaging.

Underpinned by brands such as Walker’s shortbread and Tunnock’s Tea Cakes, the store’s food and confectionery offer features a strong Scottish flavour.

The beauty offer also spotlights leading legacy brands such as Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Lancôme, many of which offer digital technologies and ‘virtual try on’ augmented reality tools.

The store refurbishment includes a bigger, bolder luxury area showcasing watches, jewellery, sunglasses and accessories, complete with strong personalisations for key brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.

To meet the demand for more niche and luxury fragrances, the revamped WDF store includes a standalone Haute Parfumerie store.

The souvenirs and confectionery areas also incorporate a strong Sense of Place. Travellers can take a taste of Scotland home with them, thanks to products such as Walker’s shortbreads, Tunnock’s Tea Cakes, Irn Bru, and Mrs Tilly’s Tablet. Quirky and unique designs by the Scottish artist Gillian Kyle adorn a selection of the premium souvenir items on offer.

The final flourish of the retail revamp is a standalone Haute Parfumerie store, introduced to meet the demand for more niche and luxury fragrances. This 57sqm boutique space showcases premium scents from renowned fragrance houses such as Penhaligon’s, Creed and Le Labo.

READ MORE: Kreol Group and Avolta bring Anchor milk powder to Kuwait Duty Free

READ MORE: Hudson and Dufry to run 28,000sq ft of retail at $4.2 billion JFK Terminal 6

READ MORE: Avolta reaffirms 5-7% growth range on H1 24 results