50 years of Duty Free: Gebr. Heinemann and Cologne Bonn Airport celebrate anniversary

It all began with a sort of small kiosk with a service counter: 50 years ago, Gebr. Heinemann opened its first Duty Free shops worldwide at Cologne Bonn Airport. This formed a solid basis for a forward-looking partnership. The Hamburg family business still is the retail concessionaire at Cologne Bonn Airport today, now with five shops, over 100 employees and a total sales area of around 1,800 sq m.

“We are very proud of our longstanding and successful partnership with Cologne Bonn Airport. The airport is the cradle of our business in the airport retail sector, because it was here that we dared to make the leap from being a pure wholesaler to operating shops ourselves, which was a new level of trade for us back in 1969,” said Claus Heinemann, co-owner of Gebr. Heinemann. His cousin and co-owner Gunnar Heinemann added: “It’s really wonderful to see how business here in Cologne has developed over the last five decades. All the innovations our company has realised in recent years have been successfully implemented here, whether in transitioning from the service counter to the walk-through self-service shop, or from the simple Duty Free logo to our own ‘Heinemann’ retail brand – both the airport and our employees here on site have offered us outstanding support along the way.”

Johan Vanneste, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH, also offered his congratulations on the anniversary: “Heinemann is an integral part of our airport family. We share a very long and successful history. There have been shops here at Cologne Bonn Airport ever since Terminal 1 was built. Together we have succeeded in building up a trusting partnership over 50 years, one that provides the basis of our joint success.”

Anniversary gifts for customers

But of course, since passengers at Cologne Bonn Airport also make a daily contribution to the success of Heinemann Duty Free & Travel Value, it’s only right they should be able to participate in the anniversary too. Under the motto “As attractive as on the first day”, Heinemann will surprise its customers throughout September and October with numerous anniversary campaigns and special offers, including traditional brands such as Toffifee, Gaffel Kölsch or the classic fragrance 4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser. Heinemann customers can also look forward to gifts including a limited edition Ritter Sport or a trendy LOQI bag when making purchases of 50 euros or more. Travellers participating in the Heinemann & Me loyalty programme can celebrate the anniversary with a free Schlumberger piccolo.