USA. A series of experiential events, demonstrations and activations were held at New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport Terminal 8 last week to celebrate the impact of its new luxury line-up.
Airport stakeholders from International Shoppes, American Airlines, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Westfield came together for the event on 14 June.
Among the highlights, a professional tie knotter provided tutorials at Hugo Boss while handwriting experts analysed guests’ signatures to reveal personality traits inside Montblanc. Floral designers at Salvatore Ferragamo created purses made completely out of flowers.
International Shoppes and Westfield partnered to redevelop nearly 10,000sq ft of space post-security. That included five speciality stand-alone boutiques ranging from Salvatore Ferragamo and Bvlgari to luxury beauty brands such as Dior and Chanel that feed into the centre of a new 5,594sq ft duty free store.
All stakeholders have reported positive feedback from travellers, while International Shoppes Vice President Matthew Greenbaum revealed that duty free sales are “nearly double” what they were last year.
“Our roots are in luxury and we are always looking to create the next level of retail excitement,” he said. “With Westfield and American Airlines we’ve redeveloped the whole retail landscape and almost doubled our footprint in Terminal 8. Consumers are really responding to the world-class brands.”
Westfield Airports Executive Vice President Dominic Lowe noted that International Shoppes had brought “some of the style, glamour and fashion of New York to the American Airlines passengers”.
