Evolve by Hudson: Combining Specialty Retail with Travel Essentials

Hudson is introducing Evolve by Hudson, a new immersive, customer-centric shopping experience for travel retail. This new concept represents an evolution of traditional retail that brings together brand experience with accessible travel essentials in a seamless one-stop-shop; hence, combining two of Hudson’s strategic pillars: travel convenience and specialty retail.

This new concept will reimagine the convenient and seamless experience of Hudson stores by incorporating complementary brands from both Hudson´s and Dufry´s portfolios. The first Evolve store will open in Nashville International Airport in the second half of 2021, with seven additional locations planned, including Dallas Love Field Airport and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

What Will the Stores Look Like?

Each Evolve store will be designed with a wide-open storefront, a footprint of at least 2,000-square-feet (around 185 m²), and eye-catching digital signage on the store exterior, providing a unique glimpse into the brand offerings right from the concourse.

Once inside the expansive store, a circular traffic flow will seamlessly guide travelers around the centrally-located floor displays and out towards the specialty shop-in-shop walls. Stopping at any of the shop-in-shops along the way, travelers will delight to see that the distinguishable identity, style, and design of the brands that they know and love have been authentically recreated within Evolve.

Further amplifying a convenient and effortless shopping experience inside, a variety of different checkout options will be available to meet the unique shopping preferences of travelers. In addition to a traditional checkout experience, each Evolve store will feature multiple state-of-the-art self-checkout kiosks as well as Hudson’s newly-developed mobile point of sale (POS) capabilities, which will enable Hudson team members to complete transactions from anywhere on the sales floor and spend more time assisting travelers at the brand shop-in-shops.

Local & Global: Products for Every Traveler On-The-Go

Evolve will feature a selection of globally-recognized and up-and-coming local brands highlighted in seven carefully-curated product categories, including Sunglasses, Electronics & Entertainment, Personal Care & Wellness, Luggage & Writing Instruments, Accessories & Apparel, Local Goods & Souvenirs and Travel Essentials & Snacks.

Designed to inject moments of discovery throughout the entire shopping experience, no two Evolve stores will be the same – from the store layout to the product offering. The selection and number of brands represented in each store will be specifically tailored to the unique airport destination, with the flexibility to quickly interchange brands based upon demand, seasonality, or trend changes.