Gebr. Heinemann Talking Points V
Towards a global business
While still small in relative terms compared to its traditional heartland of Europe, Heinemann remains committed to its Asia Pacific (4% of 2022 turnover) and Americas (2%) business, though each carries a different focus.
For the next three years, the Americas will remain a cruise and distribution market, and not one where Heinemann will chase airport concessions, said Co-CEO Raoul Spanger.
On Asia Pacific, he noted: “In traffic terms this market is around 15 months delayed, and the Chinese, though they are returning, are doing do slowly, but we expect good growth in the second half. That is key for us as Sydney and Kuala Lumpur also rely on their spending. We have invested in both recently, including our biggest single store worldwide in Sydney (6,000sq m) as well as opening under the Heinemann brand in Kuala Lumpur.”
View Martin Moodie's video walk through of the new-look Heinemann store at Sydney T1
At KLIA2, the first stores under new branding opened in January 2023. Once all shops are open, Heinemann’s retail footprint will span 1,686sq m.
As reported, Sydney Airport and Heinemann are to open an Australian first in August, with a department store concept for the airport’s domestic terminals (T2 and T3) across 2,300sq m of space.
In other developments, Heinemann reopened its food & confectionery stores at Hong Kong International Airport on 1 May.
In the annual report, Heinemann Asia Pacific CEO Marvin von Plato addressed the route to growth in that region.
Sydney T1 is home to the retailer's single largest store worldwide, with beauty and fashion at the heart of a new-look arena
“The first [pillar] is our core business of airport retail, where we anticipate immediate to short-term opportunities.” Between 2022 and 2025, 15 airport retail concessions are scheduled to come up for tender across the region with a total projected sales value of over US$2 billion, he noted. “We intend to build on our key markets, and continue the momentum created by the recent additions to our distribution portfolio in Fukuoka International Airport, our first in Japan, and Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal retail concession.”
The second pillar lies in diversifying the company’s sales channels, leveraging its retail expertise and brand partnerships to extend into the domestic retail and distribution markets. This will also build on its first forays into downtown retail in 2021 when it opened its perfumes & cosmetics and confectionery stores in Macau.
The Istanbul business goes from strength to strength, buoyed by luxury spends from Middle East and Russian travellers
In key markets closer to home, Istanbul and Tel Aviv are powering ahead of pre-pandemic sales, the former driven by Middle East and Russian customers in the luxury segments.
On the downside, driven by the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the company confirmed that it is selling its shares in its Russian retail joint ventures to its local partners, but will remain involved in the wholesale business, “in line with the sanctions regime”. The Russian retail business was worth around €250 million a year in turnover.
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 323 | 5 May 2023
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