Heinemann awarded Düsseldorf duty free and travel retail concession

Gebr Heinemann has won the concession to operate the the duty free and travel retail shops at Düsseldorf Airport from January 2023.

The licence is for four shops across all three terminals A, B and C, with a total of around 4,000 square metres of shopping area.

The product range will include liquor, tobacco, confectionery, perfume and cosmetics, fashion, accessories, watches and jewellery.

“We are delighted at the successful outcome of the tender, and we are looking forward to renewing our partnership with Düsseldorf Airport and resuming retail operations there,” says Heinemann’s chief operating officer, Raoul Spanger.

“I am certain that this partnership will be very successful in terms of unique, future-oriented shopping concepts. It is our common goal to meet all the needs of passengers in relation to duty free and travel retail services at this important airport.”

The airport’s head of commercial, Anja Dauser, notes: “Yet another reason to take off in Düsseldorf! With Gebr Heinemann, we are getting a partner that is as professional as it is likeable, with a fantastic concept.

“Together with a high level of service familiar to Heinemann customers, it will provide a special visitor experience for our passengers. We are looking forward to a constructive and cooperative partnership!”

Homecoming for Gebr Heinemann after ten years

The collaboration between Gebr. Heinemann and Düsseldorf Airport began in 1992, when the airport first introduced its retail concept.

Heinemann notes that the two companies together laid the foundations for “a mutually profitable business”, although that partnership came to an end almost ten years ago.

The duty free operator believed that its shop design and sustainability concept, combined with its willingness to invest, were decisive factors in winning the tender this time around.

It says that the shop design will clearly reflect its three cornerstones, namely a local approach, sustainability and flexibility, with each outlet offering a wide range of local products and has an individual focus that represents Düsseldorf.

The design highlights the love and commitment to art, the emerging youth and urban culture, the history of the old town – locally known as the ‘longest bar in the world’ – and showcases Düsseldorf’s status as Germany’s fashion capital.

Düsseldorf is Germany’s fourth-largest airport after Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, handling around 26 million passengers in 2019.