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Kempegowda airport, a big draw for retailers
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, which witnessed a 25 per cent growth in traffic in 2015 with 18.1 million passengers, has witnessed record sales in 27 of its retail brand outlets.
According to a spokesperson of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), some of the outlets have become the number one or number two selling outlets in the country. The airport welcomed its 100 millionth passenger on March 18.
Puducherry headquartered leather accessories brand Hidesign has its number one store in terms of sales and profitability at the airport; Fabindia’s store that sells only garments and accessories and no furniture, is the company’s number 1 store in terms of sales per sq metre; the Subway store is the largest selling outside the US, with 8,500 subs being sold per week; Shopper Stop’s fragrances store Arcelia is its number 1 store for fragrances in India beating its Mumbai store in Malad; and Levis records its highest sales in the country at the airport.
Stating that Bengaluru is a very profitable city for retailers, Qubra Khan, Regional Head of Hidesign, told BusinessLine that the store in the Kempegowda International Airport notches an average selling price of ?5,000.
“Bengaluru is an IT and Pharma hub and professionals at the manager and above levels who travel from these two sectors receive attractive travel allowances which they liberally spend on impulse buys at the airport. Then there are other factors such as, lower rental and staff costs in Bengaluru and the demographic profile of passengers from the city who are well traveled, discerning and cosmopolitan which contributes to this store becoming our number 1 store in the country in sales and profitability” she said.
Handicraft and Heritage store, The Lotus House, which has 10 stores in airports and malls pan-India, has recorded its second highest sales in Kempegowda irport.
Mala Paropkari, CFO, The Lotus House — Adaa Traders Pvt Ltd said “Our Mumbai airport store records the highest sales only because it attracts higher footfalls, if Bengaluru had higher footfalls, it would have been our number 1 store.” Café Coffee Day, which has 1,586 cafes, recorded its highest sales at the Bengaluru airport until last week. This week, one of its Delhi outlets has taken up the pole position, said the BIAL spokesperson.
Jewellery brand C Krishniah Chetty has a presence, the popular Mysore Silks will soon open a store there and regional delicacies such as, bisibelebath, akki rotti and mysore pak are available at restaurants. “As the Gateway to South India, we try to see how the airports offering can be unique to the South Indian experience for every traveller, so that he or she can take back memories of South India in a new and refreshing way. Our approach is 85 per cent local” said GV Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, BIAL.
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