Beijing tender comes down to four bidders

Dermot Davitt

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Beijing Capital International airport has received bids from four China-registered retailers following its duty-free tender

The bidders have tendered for the entire duty-free operation, although BCIA may opt to split the concessions. But the source said the airport authority had not yet indicated whether it intended to choose a single retailer or appoint several tenants for different product categories. One source close to the tender told RavenFox.com that a final decision could take months.

The winning bidder will operate around 2,300sq m (24,750sq ft) of space, with 700sq m (7,530sq ft) remaining in the hands of BCIA.

International retailers DFS Group and The Nuance Group remain determined to enter the Chinese market, but the former was ruled out of the Beijing bidding as it failed to meet BCIA's requirement that only companies registered in greater China need bid. Nuance, meanwhile, was expected to participate through its Hong-Kong based partnership with AS Watson, but some sources have suggested that the retailer had struggled to meet the tight deadline imposed.