INTERNATIONAL DUTY FREE STORES
Three for the count Time has not stood still in 2017 for International Duty Free Stores with a trio of long-awaited projects finally taking shape in Morocco
IDFS’ 300-square-meter level one store in Casablanca’s new T1 will focus on ‘grab and go’ mixed category opportunities
The level two store in Casablanca T1 will deliver a more relaxed retail browsing experience with IDFS dominating the retail opportunity and surrounded by F&B outlets
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Casablanca T1 focal points include a highend walk-in humidor and chocolate bar
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GULF-AFRICA DUTY FREE & TRAVEL RETAILING NOVEMBER 2017
hey say that all good things come in threes and for Casablanca-headquartered International Duty Free Services (IDFS) it’s been a busy year so far. The opening, after much delay, of the new terminal at Marrakech Menara International at the end of 2016 saw Christopher Tantoco, IDFS’ President – General Manager heave a sigh of relief, but the retail offering is still very much a work in progress, as he explains: “It’s been a long journey with some design challenges along the way, and we had to adapt our walk-through concept so that rather than us being able to control the passenger journey through the space, we were asked to implement a wider direct pathway directly through the middle. “As our original concept built the shopping experience around a more interactive journey this meant that we needed to rethink the orientation of the space and so we split the delivery into two phases in order to get it right.” While operational fine-tuning is ongoing and exclusive headline brands Longhcamp and Lacoste have only recently opened, Tantoco reports that business in general is looking good across the company’s 996-square-meters of retail space. “We haven’t been able to realize our full potential just yet, and still need to address the store orientation issue, but we have been incredibly active on the marketing front,” he says. “We’ve put a lot of effort into directing traffic into the space through different marketing tactics and we also have decent animation space to utilize. A spin and win promotion with the grand raffle prize of two flights to a dream destination just concluded and was very successful in driving business,” he adds.