Claus Heinemann has a
passion for retail. As co-owner of powerful German travel retailer Gebr.
Heinemann, he has worked in the industry for more than 35 years, distributing premium
products and operating stores across the world. He is the fourth generation of
the family to run the 136-year-old travel retail business, so the passion is in
his blood.
 |
| Claus Heinemann, co-owner of travel retailer Gebr. Heinemann |
The biggest Duty Free shop in Germany
Heinemann spoke to MJ
Rabbit on December 14 at the opening of the new Davidoff of Geneva walk-in cigar humidor at
Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1, where Gebr Heinemann operates the impressive
multi-brand Duty Free shop, calling it “the biggest Duty Free shop in Germany”.
With the opening event, Gebr Heinemann also celebrated its 45-year business partnership
with Oettinger Davidoff AG, the Basel-based maker of premium cigars.
Asked about how
trading had performed this year, Heinemann began by acknowledging the business
challenges. “We operate in so many different areas and we have undertaken so
variable developments this year, especially when it comes to currency
fluctuations. In Western Europe, the euro rate is very favourable for Americans
and Chinese. In places like Copenhagen, Vienna, Frankfurt and Amsterdam we are
all over-budget. Our most important area is Turkey, at Istanbul Airport, where
there has been a strong increase of our business.” Concurrently, he has
observed an “enormous” boost in sales to Americans, thanks to the strong US
dollar.
Heinemann noted the
recent downing of a Russian jet by Turkey, which has had a profoundly negative
effect on Russian travel numbers to Istanbul, where Russians make up 8% of
Heinemann’s total business. He also cited the volatile rouble. “The Russians
are normally big spenders, but now they pay more attention to the product's
price.” He added that Heinemann’s operations at Russian airports had been hit
substantially. Faced with these challenges, compounded by poor trading in Egypt
and Tunisia, he described the general political environment as uncertain.
 |
| Gebr. Heinemann's Duty Free shop at Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 |
Chinese travellers love German products
Turning to the Chinese
traveller, Heinemann emphasised their importance to the company’s global
operations. “The Chinese traveller is very important to Heinemann Duty Free,”
he said, adding that 16% of the operator’s sales at
Frankfurt Airport are made by people from Chinese destinations.
“They love local
German products, which they buy for souvenirs,” he said. “Furthermore they like
exclusive and expensive products in categories such as accessories, perfumes,
chocolates and cigars… In the Cognac and whiskies category, they choose the
most prestigious products as a gift.”
Heinemann said he was
pleased with the current level of Chinese per-capita spend, which had increased
dramatically over the past years. This year, the company has seen a 25% upswing
in sales among Chinese travellers.
In the run-up to the
2015 holiday season, Frankfurt Airport was offering a wide range of festive
activities: Christmas decorations, Christmas gift wrapping, shopping coupons,
and special offers.
Knowing that today’s
retail environment demands newness, Heinemann said the company is always open
to looking at new brands that are well-known in the market and had a marketing
research department that identified what customers wanted to buy.
