As soon as you enter the new Emirates World Store in BGC, Taguig, your senses immediately fly with the delightfully bright, airy feel of the place, the even brighter smiles of the ladies in the staff and the sight of cozy corners and a minibar where one supposes coffee, tea or other beverages are served to visitors.

“We always have the red and white Emirates theme, the fresh, natural light coming in. We always choose stores like this to give a positive environment — marble flooring and the ceiling to match the white. The only thing that changes is, depending on the market we’re in, the store is small, medium or large. And the large ones will have the onboard product display, like the one we have here. Other stores may have the first class suite, or we may have the premium economy seat, or the business class seat. So we change the onboard display depending on what the market prefers,” Shamim Fakih, Retail Reimagined Global Rollout Projects head, tells DAILY TRIBUNE.

“On the technology, we have the self-service kiosk, which allows customers to quickly browse flight options, check availability and answer their other travel-related questions. It is standard in every store. We have the selfie mirror, the most popular technology in all our stores. You can interact with it, and it will ask you if you would like to take a selfie. It will show you four different Emirates backgrounds — you can take a selfie in first class or in one of the European destinations of Emirates, for example. And you can immediately download it and post it on social media. So people love it because they get asked, ‘Are you in first class?’ And they would say, ‘I’m in the store.’ So people love this feature.”

A large LED wall also catches the eye across the entrance, but it is not just any video screen as it can show visuals of the inside of different kinds of Emirates crafts, as well as offer information on flights and even what kind of weather to expect at certain times of the year in one’s destinations.

A smaller screen beside the merchandise display shows an Emirates symbol, the “tree of life” that also tells of the brand’s commitment to sustainability.

Also, large windows facing the street are covered with the innovative, highly expensive transparent LED, which shows Emirates scenes while also enabling one to see what is inside the store.

For its second Emirates World retail store concept in Southeast Asia, the first one in Hong Kong, the UAE company introduces a fully immersive Emirates experience in Manila. Ms Fakih affirms that “the new space marks a significant step in the airline’s commitment to the Philippines by redefining the travel retail experience for travelers,” as the brand statement goes.

Located at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, the newly-unveiled 221-sq.m. retail destination was inaugurated by Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer in the presence of the Philippines’ First Lady, Liza Araneta-Marcos; His Excellency Mohamed Obaid Alqataam Alzaabi, UAE Ambassador to the Philippines; along with other distinguished guests, trade and media partners. 

“The new Emirates World Store in Manila is designed to serve as a one-stop shop where customers can explore Emirates’ best-in-class products and services and provides visitors a glimpse of our onboard hospitality and excellence, ensuring the bar is set high when it comes to retail experiences both in the Philippines and across our global network. The Emirates World retail store is part of our broader strategy to get closer to our customers as they plan their travel and create an elevated experience that is consistent with our brand,” Kazim said.

 A standout feature of the new retail store is Emirates A380 onboard Lounge display, giving customers a first-hand look at the premium touches that define Emirates’ products in the sky, and bringing them closer to the airline’s high standards of in-flight luxury. Store visitors can also browse a curated selection of Emirates-branded merchandise and travel accessories, with a wide range of products from the Emirates Official Store — including the latest NBA collection for basketball fans.

 Emirates has so far launched its reimagined retail spaces in Hong Kong, London and Nairobi, with more stores set to progressively roll out to key markets with an estimated investment of AED 100 million over the next three years as part of the airline’s retail strategy.

 Emirates launched services to Manila in 1990, and progressively grew its services to include a circular service to Cebu and Clark. The airline currently serves the Philippines with 28 weekly flights, offering approximately 22,700 weekly seats to and from Dubai and connecting travelers to over 140 destinations across the airline’s global network.

 Last year, Emirates inked an interline agreement with Philippine Airlines (PAL), expanding its network to more domestic points in the Philippines via Manila, Cebu and Clark. Under the agreement, PAL’s customers can also benefit from increased connectivity to nine international points via Dubai including Amman, Birmingham, Cape Town, Dammam, Dublin, Lisbon, Manchester, Muscat and Riyadh.

 Travelers flying with Emirates can enjoy the best experience in the sky with an unmatched culinary experience, regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages.

Customers can sit back and relax with more than 6,500 channels of carefully curated global entertainment content featuring movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, games, audiobooks and more with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.

With information from Emirates