Peace Arch Duty Free reports strong growth

Gavin Lipsith

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Canada’s newest border retailer has reported encouraging growth in sales since opening its permanent outlet in July last year

Peace Arch Duty Free has reported strong sales growth in 2006, driven by the opening of its permanent store last July. Sales last year grew by 50% and the company claimed that the store helped Canada’s Pacific region post overall growth in border duty-free sales last year.

The company said in a statement: “Removing the Peace Arch growth from the Pacific region statistics, sales for 2006 would have shown an overall sales decline in the region, similar to the other regions of Canada.”

The 26,000sq ft (2,416sq m) store is continuing to show strong growth in the first part of 2007, the company said, and president Peter Raju is predicting good results in 2007 as the outlet continues to gain market share.

The company attributed its success to its aggressive pricing policy and increased advertising, as well as an increase in traffic in 2006 of more than 70,000 vehicles. Last month the Peace Arch Crossing enjoyed an increase of 92,270 vehicles, according to statistics supplied by US Customs and Immigration.