Luxury on the fly

Here's an idea that India could well adopt as far as paucity of luxury retail space is concerned. An article in Womens Wear Daily talks about how accessories brands are tapping into travel retail (read shopping at the airport) for growth.

Airport retailers and brand executives said that even though they are weighed down by luggage, travelers are still willing to splurge on that extra bag, regardless of the price tag. And airport operators are zoning in.

For example, last November, British Airports Authority introduced its first concept area for fashion accessories, the World Duty Free Collection, in Gatwick North Airport in London.

The leather goods brands offered range from midlevel players such as Diesel and Tabitha to high-fashion labels including Chloé and Mulberry. "Roughly 80 percent of sales comes from leather goods, but sunglasses also drive a lot of business," said Beta Palizban, a luxury buyer for the area.

Travel retail specialist Martin Moodie, editor of The Moodie Report, commented, "More retailers are giving both standalone and generic space to the (leather goods) category, a trend that is sure to accelerate in the future."

Moodie points to the "stunning" new Narita 5th Avenue shopping mall in Tokyo Narita Airport as an example. As host to 32 shops including Gucci and Burberry, its leather goods area, he said, has dwarfed space formerly used by liquor vendors, a longtime staple of Japanese duty free. "Everywhere in travel retail, the transition from traditional to more fashion-driven categories is an important dynamic — nowhere more so than Asia," said Moodie.

While Indian airports have a lot left to be desired in terms of basic amenities, they do have the requisite retail space and Mumbai is soon to get its second international airport. I think luxury professionals here could sure pitch the idea and help not only in driving the growth in luxury retail but in better standards at Indian airports as well!

Source: Womens Wear Daily