Swedavia opens new Marketplace with food and shopping at Arlanda

Swedavia is making a major investment in developing the commercial offering at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. This will now be especially clear when the first part of the brand-new Marketplace in Terminal 5 opens its doors. The long-term strategy behind this venture has a focus on variation, renewal and value for money.

The Marketplace now opening in Terminal 5 will be the heart of Arlanda’s commercial offering. It provides a variety of food, beverages, shopping and services concentrated in an area with 11,000 square metres of floorspace right next to the new state-of-the-art security checkpoint. The space has been carefully planned to make things easy for passengers and help create an inspiring and pleasant environment. Many of the food and beverage concepts are completely new to the airport.

“Our vision for the new Marketplace is to make shopping, food and beverages part of the experience for those heading off on their travels. There should be a range of different options in terms of both restaurants and shops, which will suit many different needs. This investment is Swedavia’s biggest ever in the commercial offering at Stockholm Arlanda, and with it – together with the new, modern security checkpoint – we will significantly improve the passenger experience at the airport,” says Charlotte Ljunggren, Chief Commercial Officer at Swedavia.

There has been and continues to be great interest among businesses in setting up operations in the new Marketplace. Swedavia’s new commercial strategy gives priority to getting the right mix, with variation in the product assortment, price categories and brands. The location at Arlanda, which has about 22 million passengers a year, is very attractive for commercial operators, who are involved in creating food, beverage and shopping experiences that are out of the ordinary.

“Our new focus is on competitiveness, value for money and a broad offering rather than ‘luxury shopping’ for all the passengers – up to 100,000 a day – who pass through the Marketplace before their flight. Many of our partners are now also choosing to invest significantly in totally new concepts and their largest outlets ever. Among other changes, the new tax-free store will be unique at Arlanda and twice the size of the previous outlet,” says Charlotte Ljunggren.

After the first part of the Marketplace opens, the commercial offering at Arlanda will gradually be developed with the addition of even more operators, and the aim is to be completely finished by late 2024–early 2025. In late 2023–early 2024, the next big phase of the project awaits, when the major investment in food and beverages – The Veranda, with its 4,000 square metres of floorspace – will open. The area will house a brand-new fine dining concept and a new Food Hall, among other things.

“When you are travelling, no matter what the purpose of your trip is and whether you travel frequently or rarely, you are outside your usual, everyday environment as soon as you get to the airport, which means both your shopping behaviour and needs change. While online shopping is experiencing ever stronger growth, experiences and inspiration during physical shopping trips, which take place less often, are also growing in importance. We have seen that passengers are receptive to new products and inspiration, and we want to give travellers both unique and local offerings and make their visit to our Marketplace an experience,” says Charlotte Ljunggren.

Concession contracts for the Marketplace, and the commercial offering throughout the airport, have entailed extensive business intelligence and customer surveys. Inspiration in this work has also come from other international airports and current consumption trends. Based on these factors, the plan for Arlanda’s commercial premises was set, including a range of shopping outlets with a focus on breadth and value for money, great variation in terms of food and beverages, and an international touch mixed with clear Scandinavian influences.

“The pent-up demand we see in travel after the pandemic also applies to shopping and food and beverages purchases. Our existing stores at Arlanda have seen good sales growth this year as well as in 2022. At the same time, we have the new range of shopping options that is now being developed – something totally new for the airport – and we have high expectations for the new commercial offering,” concludes Charlotte Ljunggren.

Quick facts about Stockholm Arlanda’s new Marketplace

Floor area: More than 11,000 square metres
Opening: Gradual start during the second half of 2023 until the spring of 2025.
Number of outlets: More than 40 new shop and restaurant concepts.
Exposure: The outlets are exposed to about 60,000–100,000 passengers a day, or 22 million passengers a year, who have an opportunity to shop, eat and do errands before their flight.
Stores included in the new commercial investment: New store concepts include the liquorice shop Lakritsroten, which is making its biggest investment ever; Stockholm Duty Free, which is opening a new modern tax-free store with 2,500 square metres of floorspace; InMotion, the electronics retailer that sells the latest in electronics from the biggest brands and is now opening its first outlet in Sweden; ÆRA, with one store for outdoor and sports clothing and one store with well-known brands from the Nordic region and the rest of the world; Sweshop, the souvenir store with a large Dalecarlian horse out front that changes colour and style depending on the season; the clothing stores J. Lindeberg and GANT; World of Toys and Global Blue.
New stores with operations in the Marketplace that have opened: Stockholm Duty Free, InMotion, Sweshop, the pharmacy Kronans Apotek, 7-Eleven, Adlibris Pocket Shop and Forex.
Restaurants included in the new commercial investment: Concession contracts in the restaurant segment have been completed for this contract period. Most outlets in the new offering are new concepts/brands, such as La Girafe by Pontus Frithiof (fine dining with French food) and Monstro by Pontus Frithiof (casual dining, where Italian meets American cuisine), RC Café & Pâtisserie, Nordic Lounge by RC, Indochine and a new Foodhall which includes Bread Break, La Neta and Baba Grill.
New restaurants in the Marketplace that have opened: Hawaii Poké, Eatery Garden and Jureskogs.
Total value of concession contracts: 10 billion Swedish kronor for commercial concessions at Swedavia’s airports with 120 public tenders, in line with EU public procurement laws (Swedish Concessions Procurement Act). The public tender cycles run for 3–5 years.
Pricing: Prices are to be competitive and not exceed prices for similar goods in shops in the region outside the airport by more than 10 per cent.

Swedavia’s climate work
As part of Swedavia’s priority work to create climate-smart and attractive airports, the company sets high demands for suppliers, who must also work systematically to reduce their annual fossil carbon dioxide emissions. In 2020, Swedavia achieved its goal of being fossil-free in its own airport operations at its ten airports, a goal that has been maintained since then. This includes Swedavia’s own aircraft fleet and purchased electricity and heating, for which the company buys fossil-free alternatives.