Lenrianta Director General Anatoly Shashin (second from left) is my kind of social companion. “Never drink vodka in even numbers,” he told me on Monday night as I tried to make my excuses after dinner (and two large vodka shots) in St Petersburg to head to my room and complete my ferocious feature writing schedule
Miscellaneous
Nah zdahrohvye to Nuance as new stores open in St Petersburg
I’m in beautiful and historic St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, for what promises to be a memorable day for The Nuance Group. As I write in the early hours of the morning, final touches are being added before the formal opening of Nuance’s new retail offer at St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport. Nuance won the duty free
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Miscellaneous
Masi combines history with modernity
“I was born in the Valpolicella and identify with the land of Amarone. To understand what Amarone really represents you have to have been born here into a family of winegrowers, surrounded by these gentle hillsides. Amarone is more than just a wine or a technique – it’s a philosophy, an art, a life companion.”
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Miscellaneous
Romance and retail excellence in Delhi
I’m back in London after a whirlwind trip to Delhi to attend the wedding of Karan Tuli (pictured above), who works for Agatha Paris’s travel retail operations in Asia [and is the son of King Power Group Hong Kong’s Sunil Tuli] to his beautiful bride Jesreen. [Father and son: Sunil and Karan Tuli arrive in style
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Miscellaneous
Completely free of duty in Delhi
One of the many great things about working in travel retail is the friendships you develop all around the world. By dint of its inherent internationalism, our industry is a great equaliser and I am just one of many who feels that I am blessed by the comradeship and cultural empathy that the business fosters. Certainly
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Miscellaneous
The mysterious case of the disappearing Trinity
‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English) – From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Sorry for the lack of Blogs in recent days, caused by circumstances beyond my control, but I am now fully back up to speed. This Blog
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Miscellaneous
Up, up and away for the flying Foxes as Wednesday trumped on Friday
I doubt there’s a happier travel retailer in the world this weekend than King Power International Group Senior Executive Vice President Susan Whelan (above), but her state of mind has nothing whatsoever to do with trading results. No, folks, we’re talking football, English football to be precise. Susan is CEO of Leicester City Football Club,
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Miscellaneous
A tale of two North American airports
On a quickfire trip to North America last week, I took in two major airport visits in two days, and had a fascinating glimpse into how the airport companies in Montréal and Chicago – and their partners – are re-imagining commercial activities. First, at Montréal-Trudeau, Aéroports de Montréal held the official opening of its new-look
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Miscellaneous
Brown-Forman makes a splash with its Bourbon Immersion
March has been a mighty busy month. I am slowly recovering from my ten-flights-in-ten-days US odyssey, which began with a cracking time in California (courtesy of Wonderful Pistachios); continued with a transfer to Orlando to attend this year’s IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas; and concluded with a “Bourbon Immersion” in Kentucky, hosted in
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Miscellaneous
Incheon right on key, Heathrow strikes the wrong note
One of the reasons, I am sure, that Incheon International Airport keeps being rated the world’s best airport in ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards, is its commitment to consumer engagement. I have commented many times on the excellence of Incheon’s Korea Cultural Traditional Experience Center (pictured below), which brilliantly combines retailing with customer
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Miscellaneous
Kasper ghosts, Kiwi polishes and a late, late show keep the Foxes on the run
Regular readers of this Blog will know that I have a particular affinity with Leicester City Football Club, more popularly known as ‘The Foxes’ in the UK. Leicester City is owned by Asian Football Investments, a Thai consortium led by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (formerly Vichai Raksriaksorn), Chairman of one of Asia’s leading travel retailers, King Power
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Miscellaneous
A hectic commercial period for Incheon approaches
I’m back at the oh so familiar Hyatt Incheon bureau of The Moodie Report, looking out on one of the great airports of the world. It’s a more fleeting visit than most that I have made at least annually to the wonderful country that is South Korea over the past 25 years. In fact I’m
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Miscellaneous
Distilling half a century’s worth of passion and skill into a single bottle
How does someone feel as they unveil a product that represents half a century (and therefore most) of their working life? What emotions does it conjure up as they share the culmination of a great personal journey with strangers and colleagues? Those were the questions I asked the other night of Glen Grant Master Distiller
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