Finally, after years of waiting for government approvals to be finalised, yesterday (22 August), Dufry officially opened its first Brazilian duty free border shop in Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, at the border with Argentina.

 

As reported by TRBusiness at the end of July, Dufry announced the opening of the new store during a H1 2019 results and earnings call with analysts and members of the media.

 

Dufry’s first Brazilian land border duty free store follows the unveiling of the inaugural Brazilian border stores, also in July, in Barra do Quarai and Yaguarao.

 

As extensively reported, the approval of the required regulation to operate land border duty free stores in any of Brazil’s 32 cities bordering variously with Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, French Guiana, Uruguay, Guyana, Venezuela and Suriname was several years in the making.

 

‘EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS’ FROM INTERNATIONAL BRANDS

The Brazilian Customs authorities finally approved the regulation and gave the green light for the land border duty free stores last March.

 

Dufry’s new 850sq m shop offers an assortment of ‘prestige international brands’ similar to those seen in Dufry’s airport shops around the world, says the Basel-based travel retailer. “Uruguaiana is one of the most important cities in the South of Brazil, at the border to Argentina,” it adds.

 

Brands on offer include the following: MAC, Carolina Herrera, Victoria’s Secret, Shiseido, Lindt, Godiva, Johnnie Walker, Chivas, Absolut, Tanqueray, JBL, Lacoste and Desigual, among others. “Moreover, thanks to the close relationship Dufry has with brand partners, customers strongly benefit from ongoing launches of novelties, exclusive products and limited editions,” adds the company.

 

At the new shop customers can also benefit from Dufry’s RED by Dufry loyalty program aas well as its Reserve & Collect service, which allows customers to pre-order their purchases online.

 

Within the store, customers are invited to sample wines and spirits at a tasting bar and are able to take advantage of various interactive and digital activities pertaining to perfumes and cosmetics.

 

A VERY IMPORTANT PROJECT 

“As we have been discussing in the past, we were long-awaiting the local regulation to be finalised in order to start these operations, and now finally, everything is going to happen,” said Julián Díaz in the recent H1 2019 results call.

 

“This is a very important project for us as we commented on in the past because there are opportunities in 32 twin cities in Brazil that are eligible to receive this type of store.”

 

Rene Riedi, Divisional CEO Central and South America for Dufry, adds: “I am thrilled with our debut in the duty-free border shop business in Brazil.

 

“We are now focusing on exploring this completely new channel for Dufry in Brazil. We are looking forward to offering customers the same world class shopping experience they can find in our shops worldwide.”