Press releases
HAY ! The new mascot bringing the RELAY brand to life
Paris, 16 June, 2025
Still One Step Ahead: RELAY Introduces HAY, Your New Travel Companion
In 2025, the RELAY brand celebrates 25 years of guiding travelers around the world. To mark this milestone, the brand is introducing HAY, a playful new mascot designed to bring warmth, personality, and an emotional connection to the travel experience.
RELAY is the global pioneer in Travel Essentials, catering to the needs of travelers in over 30 countries. Its instantly recognizable bright red stores, visible from afar, have long been a familiar and trusted landmark in airports, railway and metro stations. With its smart one-stop shopping concept, RELAY maximizes convenience and makes every visit easy and intuitive.
After 25 years of innovation, the brand continues to look ahead. Following the unveiling of What Moves You, its new brand signature celebrating RELAY’s successful journey, RELAY is reinforcing its commitment to meaningful customer engagement and experience-led retail. With HAY, RELAY comes to life. HAY is your friendly, travel-savvy buddy: always there to guide you, make you smile, and keep you company along your journey.
This new chapter reflects RELAY’s commitment to staying one step ahead, constantly reviewing its concept and retail offer to meet the expectations of modern travelers .
“With HAY, we’re not just celebrating 25 years of success — we’re opening a new chapter in the RELAY story. A chapter where convenience meets character, and where every traveler feels welcome and cared for.”
EVP Retail
Lagardère Travel Retail
HAY embodies the spirit of RELAY: always here, always moving, always by your side.”
RELAY
The Trusted Companion
on Every Journey
For over 160 years, Lagardère Travel Retail has been a trusted travel companion in Travel Essentials, guiding passengers through every step of their journey.
This expertise comes to life through its flagship brand, RELAY, the recognized leader in the sector, present in airports, railway stations, and metro networks — offering travelers a familiar and reassuring presence wherever they go.
Its mission is simple: to provide all the essentials that make travel smoother and more enjoyable — whether it’s a book or a magazine, a last-minute gift, a drink, a snack, a phone charger or a pair of headphones.
RELAY has continuously demonstrated its ability to adapt and evolve, even in challenging times. In 2020, the brand launched its “Next Generation” concept, designed to bring RELAY closer to travelers and add even greater convenience.
2023 was a landmark year, with the introduction of a new brand signature, “RELAY, what moves you”, and a refreshed visual identity, reaffirming RELAY’s mission to create emotional and personalized travel experiences — far beyond simply offering products.
2025 marks a major milestone for the brand, as RELAY celebrates 25 years of international presence — a quarter-century of continuous reinvention, proximity, and commitment to travelers around the world.
With a global footprint of more than 1,100 stores in over 30 countries, RELAY delivers a wide range of carefully curated items, from food-to-go and tech accessories to beauty and wellness essentials. And its customer-centric approach is paying off, RELAY achieved a 97% satisfaction rate, with 80% remaining loyal to the brand for over five years.
Through continuous innovation, a deep understanding of travelers’ needs, and a passion for making journeys more enjoyable, RELAY will remain one step ahead.
Continuing
to Elevate the
RELAY Experience
Travel made special. For long-hauls and daily commutes alike, RELAY offers travelers little treats that enliven their journeys, turning them into enjoyable and personal experiences.
The RELAY concept relies on 4 main strategic pillars:
- One-stop shop: RELAY offers all of the travel essentials travelers may need, all in one place.
- Efficient & adaptable: A seamless, versatile experience for consumers & businesses alike.
- Cultural awareness: Culture, whether expressed through press, books or local products, is a central component of RELAY’s DNA.
- Global presence: As a multi-channel and multi-market travel retail brand, RELAY is for travelers everwhere, at every point in their journey.
As a travel retail expert, RELAY also seeks to encourage more responsible and safe travel, through three commitments:
- Promote responsible offer
- Better consumption
- Localness
RELAY’s Key
Challenge
The RELAY brand is reinventing itself to build stronger emotional connections, stay closer to consumers, and continuously evolve to better meet their needs and expectations. Travel is a unique moment, and it’s important to support and guide travelers throughout their journey to make it smoother and more enjoyable.
In retail environments that can be busy and stressful, it was essential to design a concept that is simple, clear, and impactful. This concept not only provides clarity but also acts as a friendly guide for travelers, helping them navigate the travel environment with ease and confidence.
By continuously innovating and anticipating travelers’ needs, RELAY remains one step ahead in the travel retail sector. This proactive approach enables the brand to effectively respond to emerging challenges — from evolving consumer expectations to changes in travel patterns — ensuring RELAY maintains its leadership and relevance worldwide.
RELAY launches HAY, a new mascot designed to bring the brand’s values to life
RELAY, the international Travel Essentials brand operated by Lagardère Travel Retail, announces the launch of HAY, a new mascot designed to embody the values of the brand. Conceived as part of a broader effort to enrich the customer experience, HAY will be progressively introduced across RELAY stores around the world.
In increasingly fast-paced and sometimes impersonal travel environments, RELAY aimed to create a mascot that could serve as a point of connection. HAY was designed to act as a non-commercial, non-intrusive companion — not a seller, but a guide. Its presence in stores aims to support travelers by making their journey through RELAY spaces easier, more enjoyable, and more meaningful.
Visually, HAY was born from the RELAY logo itself: its shape is derived from the letters of the brand, creating a character that is immediately familiar, yet distinctive. The design is deliberately simple and compact — HAY stands barely taller than a coffee cup — making it suitable for both physical signage and digital communication.
HAY’s personality was carefully crafted. It is curious, caring, and observant — attentive to travelers and their needs, but never intrusive. It offers practical help, such as orienting people within the store or highlighting relevant services, but also draws attention to little moments of well-being: a good book, a local product, or a quiet moment to relax. HAY doesn’t promote prices or push offers; instead, it informs, inspires, and accompanies. Its tone is calm, its voice empathetic.
By introducing HAY, RELAY is also reaffirming its long-standing position within transit hubs as a trusted travel partner. The mascot is a natural extension of this role — one that adds personality to the brand without altering its core mission.
This environment will allow the mascot to interact with travelers before, during, and after their physical visit — reinforcing its role as a consistent and recognizable companion across touchpoints. Whether on screens in-store, on the brand’s digital platforms, or in future campaign materials, HAY’s personality will remain central to how RELAY engages with its audience.
HAY is now being rolled out progressively in selected stores and formats and will become a consistent visual and editorial presence across RELAY’s global network in the coming years.
About Lagardère Travel Retail
One of the two priority divisions of Lagardère group, Lagardère Travel Retail is a leading global Travel Retailer, with the longest standing expertise of serving the needs of travelers and partners across Travel Essentials, Duty Free & Fashion and Dining. Lagardère Travel Retail operates over 4,970 stores in airports, railway stations and other concessions in 51 countries, and has generated €7.6 bn in sales (100%) in 2024.
We harness our pioneering culture to make travel more enjoyable with bespoke offers and experiences. We invest our world-class global expertise and local knowledge to design value-creating partnerships and experiences for our stakeholders: landlords, brands, travelers, employees and communities.
We actively champion the more sustainable future of Travel Retail through our comprehensive CSR strategy, covering all aspects of where we, as a business, have an impact and can make a difference.
www.lagardere-tr.com ● @LagardereTR
Contact Lagardère Travel Retail
Gaëtan Labardin, Corporate Communication & External Affairs Manager
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