DETROIT — New retail stores that have recently opened at Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s (DTW’s) McNamara Terminal received national honors last week at the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) 2015 Airport Concessions Awards ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona.
Winning first place in the category of Best New News and Gift Concept were Detroit’s new Wall Street Journal/Starbucks travel stores. These unique convenience retail concepts feature two incredibly powerful brands that are very relevant to the needs and demands of today’s traveler. Located near Gates A20 and B8 the venues operate extremely efficiently, maximizing limited space in the concourse, while incorporating innovative customer service technologies, such as mobile point of sale and interactive news screens, digital menus and cooler doors.
The airport’s unique new Estée Lauder Beauty Boutique, located in the central link area of the McNamara Terminal received a second place award in the category of Best New Retail Concept, and an honorable mention in the category of Best Innovative Consumer Experience. The boutique is a first-of-its-kind store that features several of the company’s premier luxury beauty brands including flagships Estée Lauder and M•A•C, as well as Aramis, Clinique, Origins, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger, La Mer, Donna Karan, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Michael Kors, Tom Ford Beauty, Smashbox and Ermenegildo Zegna, all in a convenient one-stop location in the terminal’s central mall area. Customers can take advantage of tablet-based computer-guided skin care analysis, personalized product demonstrations and sampling, and relax in a bright and open central lounge area, while receiving a mini-makeover. Curved NanoLumens displays provide flight information, support multi-language product information and compliment the modern and sophisticated store design.
“We have an outstanding airport concession program here in Detroit,” said Airport Authority CEO Thomas Naughton. “Our travelers enjoy these new award-winning retail venues and they are just a small sampling of the many fantastic brands and innovative concepts our new program offers.”
Both winning retail concepts are operated by WDFG Detroit and Partners, LLC, a joint-venture of Bethesda, Md. based WDFG North America LLC, (formerly Host International, Inc.) and veteran airport retail planners, New York City-based Byrd Retail Group, LLC, a Michigan certified Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE).
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) welcomed more than 32.5 million passengers in 2014 and is one of the world’s leading air transportation hubs. With service from 13 scheduled passenger airlines, Michigan’s largest airport offers more than 1,100 flights per day to and from nearly 150 non-stop destinations on four continents. In 2010, DTW ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among large airports in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airport Satisfaction Study. With two award- winning passenger terminals, six jet runways, and an onsite AAA Four-Diamond Westin Hotel, DTW is among the world’s most efficient, customer friendly and operationally capable airports in North America. DTW is operated by Wayne County Airport Authority, which also operates nearby Willow Run Airport- an important corporate, cargo and general aviation facility. The Airport Authority is entirely self- sustaining and does not receive tax dollars to support airport operations. Visit www.metroairport.com for more information
Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports employ more than 1.2 million people and account for $1.1 trillion in economic activity-or seven percent of the total U.S. workforce and eight percent of GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP.
Source: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
