NEWS ROUND-UP Hyundai targets November for 14,500sq m store
Hyundai Department Store Duty Free tells TRBusiness it is targeting a November 2018 opening date for its new Seoul downtown store. This will add yet another luxury outlet to South Korea’s already crowded duty free market. Planning is at an advanced stage for
the 14,500sq m duty free shop, which will straddle the three uppermost levels of the Hyundai Department Store Group’s flagship store, located in Seoul’s fast growing fashionable Gangnam area. “We will start construction in the
second half and open in November 2018,” Yuk Woo Seok, Managing Director of Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, told TRBusiness. “The floors we will use are currently
being operated as a department store. We have initiated the construction process to transform them into a duty free store. “Our target is mainly FITs as our value
proposition is to become the ultimate luxury shopping destination, but also to balance this with group tour customers, which are dominated by Chinese visitors.
“We have a plan to attract meeting,
incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) visitors who also are mostly Chinese. We will use all marketing channels to bring them to our store. “We expect 75% of customers will be
Chinese and other foreigners, and South Koreans will make up 25%.” The duty free store will occupy floors
eight and nine with a combined footprint of 12,000sq m. Customers will be able to enter
the duty free shop using the department store’s internal escalators and elevators. In addition, four exclusive external elevators will be constructed to take customers from street level, directly to floors 8, 9 and 10. Floor eight will house 30-35 luxury brand
boutiques, ranging from 300-600sq m each (depending on the brand). “Floor nine will house a mixture of
international and South Korean perfume and cosmetics brands.”
Iraq Duty Free rebuts ‘baseless’ contract claims
Allegations of impropriety surrounding a duty free contract extension at Baghdad and Basra airports in Iraq are ‘flagrantly untrue’, according to Iraq Duty Free. The duty free operator categorically
denies allegations of corruption and bribery in securing an early concession extension in 2016, as unconfirmed local reports suggest anti-corruption authorities are commencing an investigation into a potential breach of Iraqi law. The original contract was due to expire in
March 2019, but the company secured the extension in December 2016 to March 2029 to facilitate a $2m investment into the duty free stores at the aforementioned airports. Iraq Duty Free, set up in 2004 by Founder Ahmed Sarchil Kazzaz when
parent company Financial Links entered into an agreement with the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority, initially signed a 15-year contract to operate arrivals and departures stores at airports such as Baghdad, Basra and Sulaimaniyah. The agreement also includes the
provision of luggage trolleys, lounge seats in departures and buses for staff to shuttle to and from the airport. In a direct statement issued to TRBusiness,
Iraq Duty Free CEO Ahmed Kamal said: “Iraq Duty Free strongly refutes all such allegations regarding the contract renewal. “The contract between Iraq Duty Free
and Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority has passed through a number of legal and regulatory authorities before it was concluded. It
was approved by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and then further endorsed by the Ministry of Transportation. “The allegations are flagrantly untrue,
baseless and designed to tarnish our reputation and business goodwill. It is a smear campaign and a witch-hunt.” The renovation of the stores is ongoing.
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