The Nuance Group/DFASS
The P&C section at Airside 1; given lastminute changes to gate assignments, Nuance and DFASS are looking at changing up the product mix slightly to cater to the largely Latin American clientele passing through the terminal
Adapting to change Despite a last-minute change in gate assignments, The Nuance Group and DFASS remain confident in the potential of their new stores at Orlando Airport
he Nuance Group and DFASS recently opened two new stores in Orlando International Airport, located in Airsides 1 and 4. The two locations cater largely to international passengers from Canada, South America, Britain and Europe, and the stores have been designed with this clientele in mind. Travelers can find luxury cosmetic brands such as MAC, Kiehl’s, Estée Lauder, Clinique and Lancôme, luxury fashion brands including Longchamp, Tumi, Gucci, Tag Heuer and Mont Blanc, plus a host of other high-end brands across the main duty free categories. Despite a last-minute change in gate assignments that has left Nuance Group and DFASS with the job of rearranging the product mixes at each of the stores to better cater to the differing passenger profiles at Airsides 1 and 4, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Nuance Group John Menchella and President, Ground Stores at DFASS Jon Potash tell Americas Duty Free that business has been good during the first few months of operation.
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THE AMERICAS DUTY FREE & TRAVEL RETAILING APRIL 2013
Americas Duty Free: Can you tell us a bit about the thinking behind the duty paid/duty free combination? Are you expecting a major part of the sales to come from the duty paid portion? John Menchella: This kind of concept does generate some incremental sales because it allows you to expand your customer base so that you can sell to the domestic traveler for all the items that you normally carry in a duty free shop, except for the bonded items, such as liquor and tobacco. We do this at other airports and results tend to vary. For example, in Orlando we actually don’t expect much in the way of duty paid sales because first of all, before the customer even gets to the airport, there are all kinds of factory outlet malls that carry high-end brands. Furthermore, they have quite a significant pre-security offering in Orlando. Having said that, we only began full operations in December, so we don’t have enough history right now to know exactly how much benefit we’ll see from the duty paid portion of the business. ADF: Can you tell me a bit about why Nuance Group and DFASS decided to partner on this initiative? What are the advantages for each company? JM: It’s a joint venture between Nuance and DFASS, but then we also have ACDB partners, which are a requirement in most government concessions in the US. Nuance and DFASS originally
“If we get the volumes and the mix that we expect to get based on the passenger information provided by the airport administration, we’re quite comfortable in our estimates.” John Menchella, Senior Vice President of Business Development, The Nuance Group
“We’re very excited with this opportunity. The initial business that we’ve seen is very encouraging.” Jon Potash, President, Ground Stores, DFASS