Skift Take

Airports are paying much more attention to their retail offering with pop-up shops becoming a popular way to generate buzz and attract new customers.

The Skift New Luxury newsletter is our weekly newsletter focused on the business of selling luxury travel, the people and companies creating and selling experiences, emerging trends, and the changing consumer habits around the sector.

Shopping malls in the U.S. and elsewhere might be trending downward but other parts of the retail world are thriving.

Airports used to be where passengers caught their flights. Now they have megastores with retailers keen to take advantage of such a large, captive audience.

Pop-ups are more in-your-face than normal shops, and are designed to disrupt the passenger flow and to gain as much exposure as possible for a new product release or seasonal promotion. Tiffany & Co’s latest effort in JFK’s Terminal 4 is a good example of how luxury retailers are rethinking their offerings.

— Patrick Whyte, Europe Editor

five Looks at Luxury

Luxury Brands Invest in Airport Pop-Ups to Reach Coveted Customer Base: Airports are the shopping malls of modern times and one of the most effective ways for luxury brands to engage target markets worldwide.

Coach Passengers Can Get Premium Amenities — For a Price: Even if they buy first class pajamas, an upgraded meal, and an amenity kit, coach passengers still won’t feel like they’re in a premium cabin. But at least some airlines are giving travelers the chance to buy up to a better experience. It’s cheaper than an upgrade.

Marriott Teams With Isrotel for a New Lifestyle Brand: More hotels are following Soho House’s lead and integrating members-only clubs into their business models. Whether this is enough to help a boutique brand like Publica Isrotel is something we’ll have to wait and see, but perhaps joining Marriott’s Autograph Collection can help.

Breaking Away From the Boutique Hotel Hype Formula: To avoid the sugar high and then the inevitable crash when launching a new property, brands need to adopt a mindset of reciprocity and be a participant, and not a drain on the artistic ecosystem of a city.

First Hotel From Retailer Muji Is Minimalist But ‘Anti-Cheap’: Like West Elm, Muji is blurring the line between retail and hospitality, and creating a hotel that functions like an interactive showroom.

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Skift Europe Editor Patrick Whyte [[email protected]] curates the New Luxury newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday.

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Tags: airports, luxury

Photo credit: Bloommiami designed and implemented a Proctor and Gamble pop-up featuring Flora by Gucci at the Miami International Airport. Bloommiami

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