Fashion Fever
Few could doubt the French passion for fashion, or the country’s commitment to driving that industry forward, with its designers frequently regarded as being amongst the world’s most innovative. At a retail level, coverage of the category has also inclined towards the bold and ambitious, not least in the nation’s leading airports.
French retail stalwart LS travel retail can undoubtedly be credited with a great many landmark projects in this area. As we shall see, it has certainly been busy in the category of late, and this amidst a raft of changes that has seen parent company Lagardère Services announce a new global identity (LS travel retail) and a three-division structure for global TR: LS travel retail ASPAC, LS travel retail EMEA and the retail companies in North America. Aelia now sits within the EMEA division, and serves as the buying, marketing and service platform for the duty-free activities of the Group.
New operational context notwithstanding, LS travel retail’s commitment to fashion & accessories remains unaltered – as evidenced by a clutch of new projects that have come to fruition in recent months. Perhaps most striking of all is The Fashion Gallery, situated at Singapore Changi T2. Working in conjunction with colleagues at LS travel retail ASPAC, Aelia developed one of the region’s largest multi-brand outlets: a 764sqm store that showcases 17 carefully selected luxury designer fashion brands.
The store, says Aelia CEO Ambroise Fondeur, sports a “very stylish design with brands presented in customised brand zones around a main walkway, defined by contemporary lighting, and making the store easy to shop and navigate.” The store is proving “extremely popular” with shoppers, and it seems the industry observers are happy too: witness the retailer’s triumph in the Best New Shop Opening category at the latest edition of the DFNI Awards for Travel-Retail Excellence in Asia-Pacific.
Impressive as it is, The Fashion Gallery is but one facet of LS travel retail’s recent work in this category. In a move that sees an extension of the fashion portfolio to Spain, Aelia has created ‘Your Fashion Store’-branded outlets at two Spanish airports. Located in the central retail area of the new Terminal 3, the 242sqm Malaga shop-in-shop brings a raft of brands to this airport for the very first time – among them Desigual, Hackett and Pepe Jeans. Hugo Boss and Armani Jeans are among the other brands selected to resonate with a passenger profile that is strong on 25 to 40-year- old leisure travellers from Britain, Spain, Norway and Germany. Holidaymakers also figured prominently in the planning for an outlet at Alicante Airport’s new terminal, with the 176sqm store opening in March.
Factor in an ambitious plan to create “exceptional fashion experiences” throughout the EMEA region – including in established markets like France, where the retailer has recently boosted its presence at Nice and Bordeaux-Merignac – and it is clear that the company is placing very great store (no pun intended) by its fashion
offer. But when so much has already been achieved in a particular category, how do you ensure that your selection is kept fresh and up-to-date?
Factors for fashion
As Fondeur sees it, there are several key criteria for having a successful – and relevant – fashion offer, including a strong team of professionals who monitor industry trends and customer demographics, and a selection that is tailored carefully to the customer profile in any given location.
Considering what Fondeur describes as “the landlord’s vision” for the airport is also vital – “how they are seeking to create a sense of place and to enhance the overall passenger experience, as well as to deliver commercial results. We invest in making sure we get the store concept and offer right for the location and the passenger profile from the beginning.”
Complementing these elements are an emphasis on service quality and staff incentivisation. “We’ve been focusing our efforts on the quality of our staff to grow the average transaction value and develop stop ratios,” says Fondeur. “Underpinning this initiative is our specially created training programme (ISO 9001 certified), undertaken by all sales staff, which includes sales techniques, language courses and intensive product knowledge.”
Fashion present, fashion future
While LS travel retail’s own investment in the category is unquestionably paying off – Aelia reports a 27% sales growth on a like-for-like basis for its existing fashion business over the last year – there is a feeling that fashion as a whole is still yet to achieve its full potential in the channel.
“Although much progress has been made, there is still a long way to go to ensure that the fashion category delivers at least as much revenue to retailers and airports as other categories do,” says Fondeur. Noting the competition provided by downstore stores, he calls on retailers and airports “to work in close collaboration to create an attractive retail environment with a clear fashion offer. This means allocating more and better retail space to the fashion offer, staying ahead of fashion trends, and introducing new and upcoming brands, as well as new products in the category.”
This long-term objective aside, LS travel retail and Aelia are focused on what is a “growing” category, and are currently assessing “several” opportunities for expanding their fashion presence in current and new airport locations. Fondeur notes that an offer has been made “to buy Nuance’s share in the Fashion and Accessories JV with AdP, which, if concluded successfully, will add an additional 45 shops in Paris CDG and Orly airports to our portfolio. This will bring our fashion store portfolio to 78 outlets. This development shows our strong commitment to developing fashion within our portfolio and we are confident that our fashion business will continue to perform well.”
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