Nuance to revamp US stores

Gavin Lipsith

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The group's North American division plans to upgrade its US locations in line with its Toronto and Vancouver stores in 2005

The Nuance Group North America has expressed dissatisfaction at the current standards of its US airport stores, and has vowed to upgrade facilities by the end of the year. The company, which was recently awarded a third US duty-free contract, at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental airport, revealed that ensuring all stores meet the standards set at its key Canadian airport locations would be a strategic priority for 2005.

Vice-president business development John Menchella admitted that the group's stores in Denver and Las Vegas McCarran airports did not compare favourably to the quality of Nuance's stores at Toronto and Vancouver, but said that Nuance had been waiting for development plans at the airports to be finalised before starting renovations.

Said Menchella: "The US system of airport management, where most are run by the cities themselves, is different to the airport authority model as there are more parties involved in the development process. So naturally things can be a bit slower. But Denver has just about finalised its plans for an extensive retail renovation later in the year, and Las Vegas will make a decision on whether to go ahead with its new terminal. We will be taking advantage of both of those to upgrade our retail offer."

He added that the Houston contract was close to being finalised, and that the group would decide on its strategy at the airport once shop locations had been decided.