WH Smith and SSP open Copenhagen store

UK news and books retailer WH Smith, in partnership with Danish food and beverage operator Select Service Partner (SSP), has opened a new shop in Pier B at Copenhagen Kastrup airport. The cooperation between SSP and WH Smith took over five news outlets at the airport last month which will open in phases between now and early 2009.

 

The 400sq m (4,300sq ft) outlet will increase the number of book titles offered at the airport to about 1,200 Danish titles and 2,500 UK titles. Travellers will also have access to a wide range of Scandinavian and international magazines and newspapers, including 45 foreign newspapers and 150 UK publications.

 

WH Smith Travel chief operating officer Simon Smith said: “WH Smith is delighted to open our first outlet at Copenhagen in partnership with SSP. Both parties believe that the combination of our international expertise and SSP’s local knowledge will deliver an innovative and exciting new proposition for all our customers.”

 

The news outlets are the most popular stores at the airport and attract about 4,000 visitors per day, according to Copenhagen Airports commercial director Henrik Busch, who also said: “It was vitally important to the airport’s commercial team to find the best partner for the news concessions. WH Smith is an international operator with many years of experience, including news outlets at airports and railway stations. The combination of WH Smith’s international concept and SSP as the local manager gives us a player with very good skills at operating news outlets. It means that travellers will have a wider range of products to choose from and more efficient operations. I am confident we have found an operator whose strong international brand will benefit passengers.”