J'Adore Dior

Christian Dior opened its first stand-alone store in travel retail at Heathrow airport on November 11. The 35m2 Studio Voyage store is located in the main concourse of the airport's terminal four and forms part of the retailer World Duty Free (BAA).

The store will focus primarily on exclusive travel-retail line Dior Voyage, and will host a 'play station' area, where customers can test products. "We see this as an opportunity to express the brand in a broader way, by testing new concepts and highlighting categories such as travel-retail exclusives, as well as capturing an additional market. The standalone comes in addition to our presence in the [terminal's] main cosmetics and perfumes store," Parfums Christian Dior international director travel retailing André de Bausset recently stated.

Although the company has no plans to open additional travel-retail standalones, it reveals it is keeping an eye out for suitable airport locations. Having experienced a tough first half, Parfums Christian Dior now expects its worldwide travel retail business in 2003 to be flat against last year.