 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Pittsburgh Airport's duty-free shop closes
Thursday, May 24, 2001 By Teresa F. Lindeman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
No more duty-free Chivas Regal for Uncle Basil in London.
The World Duty Free shop at Pittsburgh International Airport has closed, leaving the airport without a store offering international travelers access to liquor, cosmetics and other luxury goods free of sales taxes.
Pittsburgh Airmall manager BAA is looking for a new duty-free operator, but can't promise a quick return of the service.
The loss of the shop -- a 2,000-square-foot space on Concourse C -- also means World Duty Free Americas Inc. no longer has any operations at the Airmall.
Until this year, the Maryland-based company ran several news and gift shops under the name World News, in addition to the duty-free location. The gift shops closed in March, laying off about 50. The duty-free store closed May 8, eliminating eight jobs.
The reasons for the split between World Duty and BAA aren't clear, although the complicated relationship between the two companies may have been a factor.
BAA PLC, the United Kingdom-based parent of the Airmall operator, bought World Duty Free a few years ago. Contract stipulations regarding BAA's ownership of stores at the Airmall may have played a role in the closings.
World Duty Free's leases expired in 1999 and had been extended on a month-to-month basis. "For various reasons, they couldn't be renewed," said Kim Seyler, business development director for BAA's Pittsburgh operations.
The gift shops were taken over by retailers WHSmith and Parodies, each of which had existing sites at the Airmall. Seyler said both companies offered jobs to the former World News employees.
It will take longer to bring back duty-free shopping. The perk available only to travelers on international flights requires bonded employees and tight controls to meet government standards. A limited number of companies are involved in the business.
Seyler said BAA has started to make queries.
"It's a customer service. People who are regular international travelers do look for that," she said. "The everyday person may not know it's available."
Basically, the goods are sold to customers who will not be using them in the host country. That allows the store to waive sales taxes or other duties.
The most significant savings tend to be on luxury goods -- jewelry, cosmetics, liquor and tobacco products -- so those dominate duty-free shops.
Anyone flying out of Pittsburgh who wanted to shop duty-free was required to have been leaving the country, said Seyler. That applied to flights going to London, Frankfurt and Paris, as well as those to Canada.
The store also could sell to passengers coming into the United States.
Seyler could not break out individual store sales. Last year, 833,251 international passengers passed through the airport, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.
|
||||||||
