TURKEY. ATÜ Duty Free, the partnership between TAV Airports and Unifree Duty Free/Gebr Heinemann, has held the opening ceremony for the much-anticipated Luxury Square at Istanbul Airport.
The Moodie Davitt Report President Dermot Davitt is in attendance at the opening. We will bring you his in-depth interviews, pictures and videos soon.
As reported, the 800sq m Luxury Square, situated in a central airside location, features an open-store design and fashion & accessories from brands such as Burberry, Kenzo, Givenchy, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Chloé, Marc Jacobs, Off-White, Palm Angels and Alanui.
Other highlights are a 110sq m sunglasses zone and 92sq m watches & jewellery area.
ATÜ Duty Free CEO Ersan Arcan said: “Today, we are glad to open our new concept store. We will be hosting valuable brands at Luxury Square with our multi-brand shopping concept where the luxury brands are brought together.
“As a leading organisation in duty free store management, we proceed with our valuable experiences we gained through our operations across the world in the last 20 years in the luxury retail business.”
Unifree Duty Free CEO Ali Senher added: “We offer our services across a massive 56,000sq m of retail space at Istanbul Airport, which is dubbed to be the biggest infrastructure investment in Turkey. With the opening of Luxury Square, the rental process of the duty free spaces will be finalised.”
Gebr Heinemann Purchasing Director of Fashion & Accessories Jan Richter commented: “Our Zone 5 luxury marketplace concept is an exciting and innovative breakthrough for Unifree and Gebr Heinemann in the global travel retail market. The marketplace idea combines luxury monobrand stores, food & beverage and seating areas together.
“It fully demonstrates our wealth of expertise and knowledge in high-end luxury retailing and our ability to create exceptional fashion experiences constantly pushing the boundaries.”
Hailing Heinemann’s collaboration with its partners in the project, Richter continued: “The success of the Luxury Zone project certainly lies in the genuine and efficient collaboration between IGA, Unifree, ATÜ, Gebr Heinemann, Plajer & Franz and our brand partners, in sharing ideas about the future of luxury retailing at airports and working on the execution of the Luxury Hill concept.”