Airport Authority’s decision to add fashion accessories to beauty means that Shilla’s stores carry a very different character to most airport P&C departments. At the store entrance in South and North wings, sunglasses vie with fragrances and fashion watches for attention; deeper in the store come surprises where bags and other accessories lie up close with Korean and Japanese skincare brands.

Shilla intends that the promotional plan will connect the two categories in consumers’ minds. And the adjacencies certainly make sense in some cases, with luxury watches in their own area close to niche, upscale P&C but separated from fashion watches so treatment can be more individual, for example. But how the whole store plays out, especially for accessories brands, remains to be seen. With P&C dominating the space this could be a challenge (certainly many P&C brands believe so), though Shilla is confident that it can make the total environment work for brands, for the airport and for its own profitability.