New Douglas store to lead on luxury

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Douglas Crossing Duty Free president Michael Beler has revealed plans to assemble a luxury offer to rival any border store when the company opens its permanent building on the British Columbia-Washington frontier next year.

Douglas Crossing Duty Free president Michael Beler has revealed plans to assemble a luxury offer to rival any border store when the company opens its permanent building on the British Columbia-Washington frontier next year. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) minister Elinor Caplan granted final approval for the retailer's border duty-free licence application yesterday, paving the way for the opening of a temporary store offering a limited range of liquor, tobacco, fragrances, confectionery and gifts. But Beler told TRW that his goal is to create a high-end environment with the inclusion of several premium shop-in-shop concepts.

The retailer has already been in talks with fashion house Roots and designer label Kenneth Cole about personalised concepts, and Beler reported that discussions had been fruitful, although they were far from finalised. He named Burberry and Montblanc among his wish-list for similar projects.

"The philosophy behind the store concept is simple," Beler explained. "Duty-free is traditionally an upgrade environment, so why not treat it as such? The great thing about duty-free is that it can offer luxury at affordable prices. That's what people look for and the store I have in mind aims to give people exactly what they want."

But US and Canadian holidaymakers, many of whom pass through Douglas on their way to rented cottages or Washington's growing number of casinos, will have to wait until autumn 2004 to browse the full offer, presented in what Beler described as a "simple, elegant building" of 25,000sq ft (2,416sq m). The 5,000sq ft (465sq m) temporary outlet is expected to open in mid-November, shortly after the crossing's peak season.

Said Beler: "Traffic is down by about 15% according to figures from CANPASS, but it is recovering gradually. At its worst the deficit was in the high twenties. It's a shame we'll just miss the peak season - that's due to the three month delay after we were named winners, when we had to negotiate the sublease with the landlord."