East Rutherford, NJ – July 31, 2009 – A joint venture led by premier travel retailer Hudson Group has been awarded contracts to operate six new newsstands in Terminal B and a new bookstore in Terminal A of Newark International Airport (EWR). The joint venture partnership is comprised of Hudson Group and Branded Works, Inc., a certified disadvantaged business enterprise.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) authorized the awards in June.
The contracts call for the construction of six Hudson News stores totaling nearly 6,000 sq. ft. of retail space in Terminal B – and a 1,000 sq. ft. Hudson Booksellers store in Terminal A. Hudson News and Hudson Booksellers are proprietary brands of Hudson Group.
The awards, which came as the result of competitive Request for Proposal processes, bring to 23 the total number of stores that Hudson and its partners operate at Newark International Airport, including: 18 Hudson News, two Hudson Booksellers, a Papyrus stationery store, a Taxco jewelry store and a Euro Café.
Noted Hudson Group President and CEO Joe DiDomizio: “Our joint venture team successfully operates many of the retail concessions at Newark Airport. We are delighted that Westfield Concession Management, which manages retail concessions at Newark on behalf of the Port Authority, saw fit to reward our strong performance by offering us the news and gift stores in Terminals B and the bookstore in Terminal A. Hudson has a strong presence in all the PANYNJ airports, rail and bus terminals, where high volume demands an advanced level of operational expertise; we are delighted to add these additional stores to our existing portfolio.
“At the same time, our Hudson Booksellers brand is the nation’s leading airport bookstore, with over 60 locations, including another bookstore in EWR, and annual sales of close to $100 million. Our professional booksellers provide a friendly, full-service bookstore experience, right at the airport.”
About Hudson Group: Hudson Group is a duty-paid travel retailer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of international duty-free travel retailer Dufry AG (DUFN) of Basel, Switzerland. Hudson operates more than 500 newsstands, bookstores, cafes and premier specialty retail shops in 70 airports and transportation terminals throughout North America.
The combined Dufry/Hudson entity oversees over 1,000 stores in 41 countries and 137 airports and terminals.
