Page 36 - TFWA World Exhibit 2024 Special Edition

INSIDER

The original Duty Free Philipsburg store and today

Duty Free Philipsburg

Duty Free Philipsburg in Quebec going through many phases and different lineup at customs is a challenge. Customers
Province was founded in May 1988 by trends. We need to stay ahead of trends and do not want to leave their place in line
Gisèle Bachand, who opened and operated listen to our customers to make sure that to come shop, so we are left with a store
it with her sons Pierre and Philippe. Gisèle we have the right products at the right time. full of staff and products, hundreds, if not
passed away in 2019, and Pierre and thousands, of potential customers just feet
Philippe continue to work at the store. What has been the most memorable away from us, and nobody shopping in our
A family business since the beginning, activation/event at your store? store.
Pierre’s daughter Alexandra is now also
involved as the third generation. The store The fire of 1999 was most memorable. How has your business recovered since the
is still at the original site, but has gone Our store burnt down to the ground in border reopened after the pandemic? When
through many renovations throughout the mid-May 1999 and we reopened five weeks do you envision a return to pre-pandemic
years. later at the end June. Amazingly, we had numbers?
our best summer ever of sales.
How has the duty free business changed We are still on the road to recovery.
since your store was opened? What has been your biggest challenge? Our American customers are at about
85% of pre-pandemic numbers, while
The customer buying trend has Trying to get customers to stop and the Canadians are at about 65%. Is the
changed drastically in the past 35 years, come into the store when there is a car exchange rate to thank/blame for this?

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