Lagardère Travel Retail’s New Aelia Duty Free store at Verona Airport Blends Retail and Cultural Heritage

Lagardère Travel Retail continues to strengthen its presence in Italy with the opening of a new Aelia Duty Free store at Verona Airport. This 600m² walkthrough retail space, now open to all departing passengers, offers travellers a carefully crafted shopping experience that combines world-class retail with a deep connection to the city’s unique identity. Inspired by Verona’s rich cultural heritage and Shakespeare’s timeless story of Romeo and Juliet, the store creates a sense of place that immerses shoppers in a narrative as memorable as their visit to this beautiful city.

Designed to optimise passenger flow and elevate the in-store experience, the store layout ensures smooth navigation and clear zoning across product categories. Travellers can choose between staffed checkouts and self-checkout options, for a more seamless and flexible shopping journey.

The store’s design pays tribute to Shakespeare’s legendary play: the prologue is inscribed on the exterior columns, contrasting floor colours evoke the Montagues and Capulets, and a reproduction of Juliet’s famous balcony will soon be installed. The Scaliger family emblem, a historical symbol of Verona, is also featured in the architectural details framing the backwalls.

The product offer has been carefully curated to meet the needs of both local and international travellers, and includes:

• Luxury perfumery and cosmetics from leading global brands
• Gourmet food and confectionery, featuring local delicacies and international specialties
• A wide range of wines and spirits, including regional Italian labels, with tasting areas
• Fashion accessories
• Premium tobacco products
• Authentic souvenirs reflecting the spirit of Verona

Velia Berardi, Vice President Operations – Lagardère Travel Retail Italy, commented “We are proud to announce the debut of Aelia Duty Free at Verona Valerio Catullo Airport – a strategic and charming location. With this new addition, we are committed to delivering a premium shopping experience, bringing beauty, elegance, and authenticity to the Travel Retail landscape.

With this new opening, we bring our unique vision of Travel Retail to Verona for the very first time, offering a premium shopping experience that blends elegance, quality, and a deep connection to the local culture.

Our passionate team, carefully curated product selection, and signature Sense of Place will be the cornerstones of an inspiring and memorable customer journey.

A heartfelt thank you to the entire Lagardère Travel Retail team and everyone who helped turn this vision into reality. We did it again!”

With this opening, Lagardère Travel Retail reaffirms its commitment to delivering premium retail concepts that seamlessly blend local identity, outstanding service and commercial excellence.

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