Flemingo, the Dubai based global travel retail operator, is making its mark in Latin America with its first store in Costa Rica, with plans to roll out 200+ convenience shops in travel retail locations.
Called STARTER, the company began its incursion into Central and South America with it’s first store in the Juan Santamaría (San José) airport last month.
In Costa Rica, the 74 square metre store will carry newspaper and periodicals, travel essentials, personal care, toiletries, hot and cold beverages, snacks, sandwiches and other foods and there would be more focus on “food to go” and will be servicing around 4 million passengers.
On its website, the company says, “the nature of the consumer is on the move who demand quick service, easy readable ticketing and shop layouts, consistent stock availability, speedy service supported by robust backend technology. This concession is very important to the company with its focus on emerging markets and its vision”.
Flemingo said of the Costa Rica store, “the business has been growing steadily from the start of operations and the response from the passengers and airport staff as well as taxi drivers etc has been very positive in the first 20 days of trading.”
The San José airport handled 2.3 million passengers last year, with traffic a mix of US, Canadian, Latin American and European.
Through Starter, Flemingo also plans to create an Airport Employee Service where products could be delivered to their work station by 6pm if they order by noon. The brand also plans to launch combo packs (meal, water and other beverages) as well as creating a Costa Rica pavilion showcasing goods manufactured and retailed exclusively from the country in the near future.
For Flemingo, the STARTER format will play a part in achieving its vision of US$2 billion in turnover by 2020.
