BORDER SHOPS
Valiant lobbying in the Americas as border shops establish operational safeguards
Industry associations are working tirelessly to secure favourable operating conditions for border shops and secure future trading. While the duty free operational picture across the Americas remains mixed, not helped by differing rules and Covid-19 transmission rates, Luke Barras-Hill learns that strong retail contingency planning remains in force.
Above: Liquor assortment at the Sky Duty Free shop at Foz do Iguaçu.
W
hile the gradual reopening of airport DF&TR shops have
grabbed the headlines since the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis erupted in the first quarter of this year, cross- border retail, particularly in the Americas, has it’s own story to tell. The obliteration of international
air passenger traffic volumes has directly hit the livelihoods of airport retail operators, yet the picture is more myriad for the border shopping trade. Speaking to TRBusiness for
the
global Top 10 Operators report published with this issue, Leon Falic, President, Duty Free Americas said:
“I can tell you that the Northern borders and Southern borders have done better than okay. I guess the pandemic helped in that a lot of people are travelling by car and a lot of people are crossing the border.”
Leon Falic, President, Duty Free Americas
40 TRBUSINESS
“The borders in the US have done very well for us. “I can tell you that the Northern
borders and Southern borders have done better than okay. I guess the pandemic helped in that a lot of people are travelling by car and a lot of people are crossing the border. “The borders in Uruguay were
stopped for a while but now they are starting to re-open. At least on the weekends we do some business, but otherwise, I would say the borders are the least affected of all our businesses.” At the time of writing, the US
continues to suffer the ignominy of having the highest recorded Covid-19 case count at more than 6.8 million and close to 200,000 deaths, according to John Hopkins University & Medicine. In third spot, Brazil has recorded more than 4.5m cases and more than 136,000 deaths. Despite the US situation, the high
supply of border shoppers indicates a returning confidence in the business. Falic continued: “I know that in the
US there is a huge demand for RVs. You go to any of the national parks and they are packed. When you go to the border, [there are lots of] people crossing back and forth, taking their
vacations at numerous different borders, but mostly between Mexico and the US. “In the US it is a little rushed
because there are some restrictions but there is border crossings.”
Brazilian border update In Brazil, Sky Duty Free made its debut earlier this year with the opening of a duty free land border shop in Foz do Iguaçu, TRBusiness has been told. The 550sq m two-storey outlet
houses a swathe of brands including Pernod Ricard, Diageo, JTI, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris, Bacardi, Estée Lauder, Brown- Forman and others. Sky Duty Free had planned
to inaugurate the store in April pending delivery of a final product shipment, but the opening plans were scuppered due to the spread of Covid-19. The firm gained its operating licence in December. The travel retailer already boasts
several shops in Asia trading under the Sky branding. Sky Duty Free is just one of a
number of operators who have received permits to open shops after the Receita Federal authorised border
OCTOBER 2020
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