ON THE RISE IN SOUTH KOREA: CITY PLUS
duty free shops. With Chinese passengers at
Incheon down sharply since Beijing banned group tour travel to South Korea in March this year, City Plus is also hoping that the recent pick up in Japanese visitors and outbound South Korean traveller numbers will help offset expected spend reduction by Chinese.
Five-year Gimpo contract Moving on, City Duty Free’s second largest retail operation is situated at Gimpo International Airport in west Seoul – accounting for about 35% of overall revenue. Its five-year Gimpo concession
commenced on 13 August, 2016, and covers liquor, tobacco and other items, excluding perfume and cosmetics which are sold under a separate concession held by Lotte Duty Free. City Duty Free currently operates
a 433sq m store at Gimpo, although Kim explained that the company will open a second shop occupying 300sq m in October as part of its duty free retail expansion. At the same time Lotte Duty Free is
also due to open an additional 300sq m shop in addition to City Duty Free’s second offering. “We have started renovating our
existing shop in preparation for our extra shop opening in October,” said Kim. “We plan to increase the number of famous brands.” City Plus will bring in Coach and
Michael Kors which are the two best- selling brands and the most popular with both South Korean and Chinese customers at present. “We will [also] have a Daks fashion
boutique and a Leica Camera boutique,” added Kim. “Leica will be our first camera brand… we are still negotiating with other luxury brands.” At present, South Koreans are
the largest group of customers at Gimpo Airport, accounting for about 50% of City Duty Free’s Gimpo revenue. Chinese passengers rank second
with a 30% share of purchases, while Japanese visitors make up the remaining 20% share. “Now we are looking for good items for Japanese passengers. We
JULY 2017
want to have new concepts like a pop-up store in our new Gimpo Airport shop,” said Kim. “City Plus is an SME operator
so we do not expect to attract top line brands, so we focus on smaller famous brands. “Gimpo flights are to Haneda
Airport in Tokyo. Ticket prices are higher, so the average shop spend is higher. Most Japanese passengers at Gimpo are businessmen.” Meanwhile, City Plus is preparing
for the next stage in the company’s duty free retail development with the planned opening of the company’s Seoul downtown duty free store in the capital’s western Sinchon district. The retailer hopes to open this
store close to December; just in time for the Christmas and New Year trading periods. Work has already begun on the
construction of the 2,000sq m downtown shop on floors one and two of a four-storey commercial complex. This houses small shops and restaurants on the ground floor as well as a multiplex cinema on the fourth level.
‘Must visit shop need’ “We want a ‘must visit’ shop [there],” said Kim. “We want to create a unique store for younger people,” explained Tonado Yang, City Plus Co Ltd Duty Free Strategy Planning Team Director – speaking exclusively to TRBusiness. “The Sinchon area has three
universities and lots of students. Japanese and Chinese tourists want to visit the area as there are a lot of young people and cheap
City Plus says it will be readjusting the brand mix in its fashion & food store at Incheon Airport.
“The Sinchon area has three universities and lots of students. Japanese and Chinese tourists want to visit the area as there are a lot of young people and cheap fashion shops.”
Tonado Yang, City Plus Co Ltd Duty Free Strategy Planning Team Director
fashion shops. “We want good cheap products
– we call it our ‘Hidden Champion Shop’ concept.” City Duty Free’s downtown shop
license covers all product categories, but Yang explained that the store will ‘champion’ cosmetics, fashion and general merchandise .. in particular. “Our merchandise department
is deciding on the products now,” revealed Yang. “Maybe there will be some South Korean designers’ products as they know the Sinchon area atmosphere. “We will have a youth plaza in front
of our shop with entertainment like music in front. We will also organise a flea market there where people can sell their own products.” «
Incheon International Airport is City Plus’ largest operation, accounting for about 40% of the company’s total duty free revenue.
TRBUSINESS 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
