May 26 2020  |  Retailers

“A big moment” as Lagardere Travel Retail Pacific kickstarts store reopenings

By Mary Jane Pittilla

Social distancing signage has been introduced to the Hub Convenience store at Auckland Airport

Lagardere Travel Retail Pacific has announced the reopening of “a handful” of stores across Christchurch, Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne domestic airports this week, after closing all except one in the Pacific region due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The small selection of stores will be used as test cases with restricted trading hours. Learnings gathered will be applied to further recovery efforts once passenger numbers increase to more sustainable levels, the operator said.

To ensure the safety of customers and staff, the stores have strict hygiene and safety measures in place, including the use of protective equipment, personal hygiene protocols, thorough and regular disinfection of all facilities and social distancing measures.

Lagardère Travel Retail Pacific CEO Przemek Lesniak said: “Throughout this crisis, we have stayed positive and strong and focused on providing support to our teams impacted by store closures.

“We have been watching other parts of the world come through the other side, waiting for the right time to start our recovery in the Pacific. To reopen even a handful of our stores in Australia and New Zealand this week is a big moment. It will take time, but we are continuing to think positively about the future and hope to see passenger numbers continue to increase to allow more stores to reopen soon.”

Lagardere Travel Retail operates the largest network of travel retail stores in the Pacific region, operating food service, travel essentials and duty free outlets in 23 airports across Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

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