duty free

Glenfiddich Crystal Stag part of Million-Pound Marketing Campaign

Filed under: Spirits

One of the top selling single malts in the world, Glenfiddich is in the midst of a million-pound re-branding campaign that centers around the crystal stag sculpture you see here.

Crafted by Chris Blade and Katya Filmus at the National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland in England, each sculpture is made by the cire perdue method from 50 kilograms of 24% lead crystal glass that replicates the deer's head which forms the Glenfiddich emblem. It sits atop a gondola display with the distillery's core range of single malt expressions arranged in a spiral point-of-sale.

Following similar displays erected at London Heathrow and Frankfurt airports, the third in the series was recently unveiled in Dubai, with a total of 21 examples set for proliferation at travel retail locations around the world. Follow the link to view the sculpture in the making.

Tags: crystal, dubai, duty free, glenfiddich, national glass centre, stag, sunderland, travel retail, university of sunderland, whiskey, whisky

Louis Vuitton to Open its First Travel Retail Store at South Korea's Incheon International Airport

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Shopping

Louis Vuitton has received a number of inquiries encouraging them to open a travel retail outlet, but the French luxury brand has rejected each and every one of them. Until now, that is, as incoming reports state that the iconic marque will open its first airport location at Korea's Incheon International Airport in the second half of 2011.

The decision to green-light the landmark location was reportedly made after LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault personally visiting Incheon to see its signature Airstar Avenue duty-free mall. The South Korean market remains a vital one for Louis Vuitton, which continues to out-sell rivals such as Gucci and Coach in the northeast Asian country. The store at Incheon is expected to attract travelers with an appetite for luxury from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China as well.

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Tags: airstar avenue, duty free, incheon, incheon airport, incheon international airport, koea, korea, louis vuitton, lvmh, seoul, south korea, travel retail

Giant Ash Cloud Is Costing Duty-Free Shops Millions

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Here's one fallout of the Icelandic ash cloud that you might not have thought of: the duty-free market. According to a Bloomberg article the shutdown of travel across the European airspace is costing duty-free retailers an estimated 25 million euros ($34 million) a day in lost revenue. The industry has had a quiet decline over the last couple of years as travel for both business and pleasure has decreased. Generation Research estimates that sales of duty-free items sold at airport shops and on planes fell 8 percent to $22.7 billion last year and European sales accounted for almost half of that. The lack of passenger traffic from delayed flights means lost revenue for the airport shops. Even those travelers that are stranded in the airport itself aren't in a buying mood. Travelers from Asia who often spend a lot on European luxury goods have not been able to fly in.

Airspace is gradually reopening across Europe but a new ash cloud headed for the U.K. means London's airports may not be able to open as quickly. The ash could clog plane engines and so most of Europe has been under a prolonged shutdown waiting for the air to clear. It's not all bad news for some luxury retailers, the volcano may have crippled duty-free sales but travelers stranded in European cities may decide to spend a little spare time shopping in other stores in the towns.

Tags: ash cloud, duty free, duty free shopping, duty free shopping warning, duty free shops, duty-free, iceland volcano

What Happens to Cuban Brands Post-Embargo?

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

The biggest problem with access to Cuba may not be production capacity, as many suspect. Trademark and copyright issues have the potential to be a greater problem, and there is no easy solution.

You've probably noticed that brands such as Partagas, Montecristo and Cohiba occupy your local tobacconist's humidor. A saunter through a duty free store at any airport outside the United States will put the same names under your nose. Of course, these cigars have nothing to do with each other. The latter are Cuban, the former are not and the companies have no relationships. Cohibas in the United States are not the "non-Cuban" or "legal" versions of a single company's product.

General Cigar Co. Inc., for example, sells Cohiba cigars in the United States. Cohiba is also a prominent Cuban brand. Unfortunately, Habanos S.A. never registered the name up here. Habanos sued General Cigar, and a nine-year battle followed. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Habanos (shocking, right?), reasoning that the embargo barred a challenge to General Cigar's claim.

When the embargo is lifted, there will be more legal challenges, and several companies will have to change their names and labels – ultimately requiring the reconstruction of brand identities from scratch. Winning the brand battles will have profound consequences. For this reason, General Cigar has "invested" close to $3.5 million on lobbyists over the past 10 years.

As with all other Cuba-related speculation, there is no way to forecast where this issue will go in a post-embargo market. Even if we assume that the Cuban brands will lose their claims, the impact on the market would be nearly impossible to predict. What we do know, however, is that the transition will be far from easy.

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Tags: cigar, cigars, cohiba, cuba, cuban, cuban cigar, cuban cigars, cuban embargo, CubanCigar, CubanCigars, CubanEmbargo, duty free, DutyFree, embargo, humidor, humidors, montecristo, tobacco, tobacco industry, TobaccoIndustry

UK Increases Duty-Free Limit as Travel to U.S. Rises

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Telegraph has reported the UK will again increase the duty-free limit for British travelers heading to non-EU countries in 2009. The current limit is now at £340, up from the recent increase to £300 in early December of 2008 from just £145.

Partly based on research that indicates up to 1 in 5 Brits plan to travel to the U.S. in the New Year and half of UK residents surveyed planned some kind of international travel in 2009, the rise will allow for quite a bit more shopping if exchange rates don't fall dramatically.

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Tags: duty free, DutyFree, shopping, travel, uk