Earlier in August, alcohol aficionados were hit with a piece of sobering news – DFS Group’s liquor and tobacco shops in Changi Airport will be closing in June 2020.
This comes after a 38-year tenure, and the move will affect around 500 staff who work at the outlets.
Then, Changi Airport Group (CAG) also revealed that South Korea’s biggest duty-free stores Hotel Lotte Co. Ltd. and Hotel Shilla Co. Ltd. were among the bidders who have tendered to fill the gap.
Thanks A ‘Lotte’
CAG announced today that it has awarded its Liquor & Tobacco concession tender to Lotte Duty Free.
This is the first time that a new operator is taking over the helm of this concession.
According to a media statement, the proposal from Lotte stood out because of its “strong omni-channel and marketing ideas which will propel CAG’s travel retail strategy forward”.
Award-winning Lotte is the world’s second largest travel retailer in terms of sales turnover, and has concession experience in markets like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam.
Lotte will be starting its operations in June 2020 at 18 liquor and tobacco stores in Changi Airport.
Customers will be able to look forward to “experimental activations” like product personalisation in the form of customised whiskey-blending.
Annual large-scale consumer events will also be held.
Said Ms Lim Peck Hoon, CAG’s Executive Vice President, Commercial: “Lotte put forth the strongest and most compelling proposal overall. It is aligned with CAG’s vision to offer passengers a seamless omni-channel retail experience and new retail-tainment initiatives leveraging smart technologies.”
“Lotte also demonstrated a keen understanding of the market environment with a sound business plan supported by a competitive financial bid and backed up by solid business fundamentals.”
Mr Kap Lee, CEO of Lotte Duty Free added: “Winning the Changi Airport’s Liquor & Tobacco duty free concession is of great significance in terms of establishing a bridgehead to achieve our vision of “Global No.1 Travel Retail”. Lotte Duty Free will put its continuous efforts to grow as a global brand with Changi Airport.”
The contract awarded to Lotte is for a six-year term commencing on 9 June 2020, and covers all 18 liquor & tobacco stores across Changi’s four terminals, spanning more than 8,000 sqm of retail space.
