US AIRPORTS: DALLAS/FORT WORTH
Dallas eyes fast trading start for TRG Duty Free joint venture in year one
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The unveiling of the new state-of-the-art TRG Duty Free store at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Terminal D is designed to transform the airport’s travel experience across its terminals. Andrew Pentol reports back on a plan seven years in the making.
was the TRG Duty Free joint venture featuring inflight duty free enterprise DFASS Group and Texas-based retail developer CBI Retail Ventures, together with partners MDT Strategic Ventures and Charles Bush Consulting that prevailed in 2015. Once TRG Duty Free was on board,
Perfumes and cosmetics has enjoyed a strong early performance in the new TRG Duty Free Dallas store.
T
he inauguration of the TRG Duty Free store at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International
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Airport Terminal D in February was the culmination of around five years of hard work. In 2013/2014, the airport undertook a visioning exercise to determine what would happen next in the terminal and how it would align with the airport’s mission to transform the travel experience. After undertaking the relevant research, it was time to challenge the global duty free industry and see which companies could create the ‘wow’ factor in the terminal. An RFP was issued, which yielded
around six bids from the world’s top 25 duty operators. Ultimately, it
“We are actually looking to implement a larger marketing programme later on to really talk about the duty free offering across the airport.”
Zenola Campbell,
Vice President, Concessions, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
32 TRBUSINESS
Campbell emphasises to TRBusiness the importance of getting off to a great start in year one and ensuring everything asked for and agreed upon is there. She adds: “It is also important they perfect their operation and understand how the customer and product mix will be so they can provide the best offering. It is going to be a lot of trial and error and tweaking during the first year of trading.” Since the official opening, the
airport has worked closely with DFASS and its partners. “They are great in regards to
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providing information,” Campbell says: “We are actually looking to implement a larger marketing programme later on to really talk about the duty free offering across
the focus was on providing services to passengers during construction. This involved operator, airport, brands and other departments coming together to provide an engaging and information-focused interim experience. Speaking to TRBusiness about
the early initial performance of the two-storey 1,765sq m store, Dallas/ Fort Worth Airport Vice President Concessions Zenola Campbell says: “Perfume and cosmetics are doing extremely well. We will continue to tweak, but we have been happy thus far to see how things go.” Now the store is fully operational,
the airport.” From a wider airport perspective,
the target is to transform the whole travel experience. Duty free is just one aspect of the changes happening in the airport and Terminal D in particular. Campbell explains: “Passengers want to have that experience with their retail or food offering. They want to ensure they are taking selfies and that their journey or vacation starts as soon as they reach the airport.”
Terminal improvement The renewal of Terminal D is part of a $2.69bn Terminal Renewal and Improvement Programme (TRIP) that began in February 2011. TRG Duty Free aside, other Terminal D retail includes the first Kate Spade and Michael Kors co-branded locations in North America. There is also other strong high-end retail offers with brands including Hugo Boss, Tumi, Jo Malone, L’Occitane and Aveda. Most of these are separate boutiques operated by the likes of Paradies Lagardère, Duty Free Americas and Dufry. “We have five terminals,” says
Campbell, “and really improved the systems and infrastructure in each one. We have added all new concessions in these locations.” This has involved studying traffic patterns and demographics to come up with the best offerings, as Campbell adds: “We have totally enhanced the
food, retail and service in Terminals A, B and E. In Terminal C, we are in the process of switching out a lot of the leases with more appropriate brands and offering. This has all been met with great success.” «
MARCH 2018
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