BRITISH BOOK seller WHSmith will open three shops at the new Terminal 2 facility in Dublin airport when it opens in November, employing about 100 staff.
A spokeswoman for the listed company said the move was part of a “trial” to test the viability of the WHSmith business outside Britain. “We are testing a few markets outside the UK to see if the WHSmith model works,” she said.
WHSmith opened two units at Shannon Airport 18 months ago and also has airport shops in Stockholm and Copenhagen on trial.
“The opportunity to open in Dublin’s Terminal 2 [T2] gave us an opportunity to scale up that trial,” the spokeswoman said.
WHSmith had sales of £1.34 billion (€1.5 billion) in the year to the end of August 2009, and generated a profit of £82 million. It runs 1,055 outlets and has shops at most UK airports.
It is understood WHSmith sought to replace Hughes Hughes at the existing terminal building in Dublin when the Irish retailer went out of business. Eason won the contract.
The Dublin Airport Authority yesterday announced WHSmith as one of five retailers designated as “preferred bidders” for T2.
