TheMoodieReport.com

TheMoodieReport.com: "Alpha Airport Shopping this week gave members of the travel retail industry their first glimpse of the retailer�s new flagship store at Birmingham International Airport Terminal One.

When it retained this key contract last year ahead of intense international competition, Alpha pledged to invest heavily in the Birmingham retail offer. This week it honoured that promise.

Representatives from some of the industry�s best-known brands attended the official trade launch on 30 March. Guests were escorted airside for a full tour of the facilities and the opportunity to see how the �1.4 million (US$2.4 million) invested in the new store has been spent.

The tax and duty free offer in Terminal One has doubled in size � up from 6,000sq ft to 12,000sq ft � and is part of a continuing investment by Birmingham International Airport (BIA) into improving its passenger facilities. Attendees were given a full update on the work being carried out at the airport by Alpha�s Group Commercial Director David King and BIA Managing Director, Richard Heard.

�Since it commenced trading earlier this year, feedback from passengers on the new store has been excellent,� says Heard. �The look and feel of the entire terminal has been transformed and we are now keener than ever to complete the next phase of the airport�s development. This includes the second new Alpha store, due to open imminently in Terminal Two.�

Initial sales figures for the new store have shown substantial increases in a range of key categories, with duty paid spirits sales up more than +30% year-on-year and premium duty free whiskies up by +72% compared with the same period last year. Elsewhere, jewellery sales have seen a �staggering� +127% increase, Alpha said, wh"