Dubai- The expansion of Sharjah Airport promises to
dramatically reshape the retail landscape, with duty free shops moving into
roomier storefronts and luxury brands anticipated to make upcoming debuts.
Eugene Barry, general manager of Dufry Sharjah, the company managing and
supplying the airport's duty-free stores, said his shops in the arrival's hall,
departures hall, and public spaces will all take ownership of larger retail
spaces in the coming months. The spacious settings will provide a backdrop to
offer a new assortment of goods, he said.
"The airport is going through the biggest change
in its history and we want to give the airport a new look and contribute to its
success," Barry said.
Luxury brands
The success of the UAE economy and low-cost
carrier Air Arabia drove passenger traffic at the airport to jump 37 per cent
last year, which has in turn pushed retail sales.
The size of the new storefronts hasn't been
finalized yet, but Barry said the stores should be fully completed by February
2007 or earlier.
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Over a dozen luxury brands are
being courted join existing retailers Christian
Dior and Chanel to help the airport succeed in its campaign to attract more GCC and business travellers. However, it will have a long way to go before
it comes anywhere close to its immediate neighbour, Dubai International
Airport- the largest duty-free operator in the Middle East.
Dufry Sharjah has also launched a joint marketing
campaign with Air Arabia in which customers spending Dh200 at duty-free shops
are entered into a drawing. Winners will be chosen every month for three months
to win free return flights to any one of Air Arabia's 28 destinations-from
Kabul to Istanbul and everywhere in between.
Barry said Sharjah Dufry emerged unaffected by
the recent security measures following the thwarted London airline bomb plot,
which led passengers at other airports to curtail their airport shopping.
Dufry Sharjah is part of a publicly-traded Swiss
company that manages 370 duty-free stores world-wide.
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