Nespresso, Nestle's coffee subsidiary, will open a boutique coffee store in March in the central area of Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport. The store will be opened on the site of the Hatav Hashmini music store, which is closing down.
The store will focus exclusively on VAT-exempt sales of capsules. Nespresso machines are currently sold in the Touchit (electrical appliance) stores, an Office Depot subsidiary, in the duty-free section, which recently replaced ALM Electrical and Electronics. Touchit was also selected as the clearance and logistics operational services arm for the new boutique store. The coffee machines will still be sold in the electrical goods store after the Nespresso boutique is opened.
The new store will mark Nespresso's entry into the duty-free area. The boutique will occupy a 65-square meter site, which has been leased for six years. Passengers flying overseas will be able to buy capsules and collect them on their return to Israel.
Nespresso, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, operates in 64 countries and has 300 employees in Israel under the management of country business manager Moshe Marie. Nespresso has 450 boutique stores in cities around the world, including 11 in Israel. The company's store in Eilat also sells VAT-exempt coffee capsules.
Further shakeup at Terminal 3
The retail stores area at Terminal 3 is undergoing a shakeup. Last week, fast food chain McDonald's returned to Terminal 3 after a nine-year absence. The new branch will be kosher, even though it will be open 24/7, including on the Sabbath, and will be equipped with independent payment stations spread around the terminal. McDonald's also has a branch in Terminal 1, and a second branch in Terminal 3 will be opened soon in the Shakim Hall.
McDonald's will also soon be joined by another hamburger chain - Moses, which will open a branch in Terminal 3 in place of Schmoozy Bar near the children's stores in the duty-free area. Schmoozy Bar has already closed down for renovations, and will be replaced by a branch of the Moses chain that will undoubtedly be more of a restaurant than a fast food outlet a la McDonald's.
At the same time, within the James Richardson store, preparations are being made for the mandatory change, starting on January 8. The store will have to conceal its cigarettes and smoking products from shoppers. Cigarette packs will disappear from the shelves, and will be supplied to shoppers only upon request. The duty-free section tried to oppose this by exerting pressure to exempt the duty-free area, for which cigarette sales are important, from the law, but to no avail. This change follows the third stage of legislation aimed at reducing smoking. Cigarette packs and tobacco products will have to be issued in a uniform color described as the "ugliest in the world," and the health warning will be enlarged to cover 65% of the cigarette pack's area.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 5, 2020
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