April
17 2014. Today sees the official opening of the new 4711 Shop-in-Shop
at Cologne Airport Terminal 1. The around 100 sq m space has been
opened by 4711 brand owner MÄURER & WIRTZ in conjunction with
airport retailer Gebr. Heinemann.
Speaking
at the opening, Mäurer&Wirtz
CEO Thomas Seeger-Helbach commented: ‘Today’s
event represents a highlight of the long term and successful
cooperation between Gebr. Heinemann and Mäurer&Wirtz in
Germany’s Travel Retail business.This outstanding setting of the
world of 4711 at Cologne airport demonstrates the substance and
potential of this City’s most iconic brand. Our special thanks go
to Gebr. Heinemann for this trusting cooperation and we are looking
forward to mutually benefitting from the success story which is
4711.’
The
highly visible shop-in-shop is well positioned immediately after
security and presents travellers with a total 4711 experience. The
area includes an impressive 1.7m counter, presenting the various
ingredients used in the various 4711 lines; a history wall detailing
the development of the brand through photographs, advertising images
etc; a massive back-wall of 4711 Original Eau De Cologne bottles; and
an interactive screen where passengers can find out more information
about the brand.
In
addition a full range of 4711 products is offered for purchase along
with the Original Eau de Cologne, this includes the 4711 Nouveau
Cologne, ACQUA COLONIA and the newly launched 4711 Wunderwasser.
Says Mäurer&Wirtz
senior
area manager Margareta Klein; ‘This new shop in shop demonstrates
perfectly the level of support that Mäurer&Wirtz
is
willing and able to give travel retail. We have worked closely with
Gebr. Heinemann for many years and are incredibly grateful to them
for putting their faith in us – and the 4711 brand.
‘This
is a first, and very important step in our ambition to grow our
presence in travel retail stores globally. This beautiful new
shop-in-shop is both a testament to the historic connection that 4711
has with the city of Cologne and also to the importance that we put
in travel retail as a fantastic shop window to the world.’
‘When
we thought about creating something unique for our new shop
environment we very soon came to know that presenting 4711 in a
separate corner would be the right decision regarding turnover
potential as well as creating a perfect local footprint,’ says Kai
Langnickel, Retail Manager Heinemann Duty Free in Cologne. ‘We are
at Cologne Airport the no.1 selling outlet for 4711 products within
the Heinemann company; the collaboration with Mäurer&Wirtz
has
been very good and we strongly believe that the new appearance will
elate our customers.’
Notes
to editors: Cologne is the birthplace of 4711, first created by
Wilhelm Muelhens from his house in the Glockengasse, numbered
four-thousand seven-hundred and eleven by the Napoleonic city
administration. Here he was inspired by the more pleasant scents of
18th
Century Cologne – cinnamon, lemon, mint, orange, nutmeg bergamot
and lime. His initial concoction, named ‘aqua mirabilis’ was
drunk in its pure form or mixed with wine, believed
to
have healing powers. When Napoleon demanded that all medicinal
recipes be made public in 1810, Muelhens – in order to protect his
secret recipe – declared his "Echt
Kölnisch Wasser"
('original Cologne water') a healing scent for external application.
Napoleon himself became a renowned customer, even carrying a special
casket for the bottle on his riding boot. Kaisers and kings, the
Russian tsar’s court, Goethe and Wagner all joined the select list
of clients.
The
4711 brand was soon available through branches in Vienna, New York
and around the globe. As early as 1840, fully laden merchant ships
left the harbours of the North Sea, carrying crates of 4711
to the port towns of the Indian Ocean.
From
the very beginning, the brand has been driven by the will to
innovate. 4711
was the first company to stop using the Rosoli bottles of the time,
which could only be stored lying flat, and to change to the famous
Molanus bottle. With its hexagonal form, it made transport easier and
allowed for a large label, which introduced the blue and gold design
still used today. As early as 1869, the company bought interests in
the flower industry of Grasse in order to safeguard the quality of
the ingredients. The company owner at this time, P. P. Muelhens,
travelled to India, Asia and the Orient in search of aromatic
inspiration, and created numerous scents, such as heliotrope and
Shahi.
In
the early 20th-century new manufacturing methods saw the introduction
of new fantasy scents in addition to the hitherto popular flower
perfumes. Thus, at the same time as a certain Coco Chanel, 4711
worked on a new scent composition made possible by the recently
discovered aldehydes. In 1921, two perfumes were launched – Chanel
No. 5 and Tosca
by
4711,
both becoming the world's best-selling perfumes. In the Twenties, the
famous Glockengasse No. 4711 became an umbrella brand.
In
2007 MÄURER & WIRTZ acquired the perfume brands
4711, Tosca, Sir Irisch Moos
and Extase,
in a move that saw the traditional fragrance 4711
returning to Rhenish ownership. In 2009 ACQUA COLONIA was launched as
a prestige sub-brand of the 4711
brand.
*Photograph
0025 - Gunnar
Heinemann, Gebe Heinemann, with Mäurer&Wirtz
CEO
Thomas Seeger-Helbach and senior area manager Margareta Klein.
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