The American cosmetics group Estée Lauder, whose portfolio includes the MAC, La Mer and Clinique brands, has opened a new distribution centre in Galgenen (Switzerland), entirely dedicated to travel retail.
This opening comes at a time when world tourism is recovering after being severely affected by almost two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Travel retail continues to show its resilience. We fully trust this channel for the long term, especially as travel restrictions are easing around the world and people are starting to travel again,” says Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estee Lauder Group.
The new 28,000sq m centre is designed to support the growth of duty-free sales at airports, convenience stores, airlines, cruise lines and border stores. Their global network reaches three billion customers each year.
In its 2020/2021 fiscal year, the travel retail division accounted for 28 per cent of the Estée Lauder group’s $16.2bn revenue.
The Estée Lauder group opened its first office in Switzerland more than 55 years ago and its first production facility more than 45 years ago. The company currently has four distribution centres in the country and is the fifth largest employer in the canton of Schwyz, where the German language is official.
