WHSmith has opened the first store under its curi.o.city brand in Northern Ireland.
The concept was launched last year at Gatwick Airport’s North and South Terminals, and now counts 23 locations including Bristol Airport, St Pancras station and Selfridges in Birmingham and Manchester, as well as standalone and concession outlets in the Middle East.
According to WHSmith “curi.o.city offers today’s travelling customers a high-quality range of gifts, stationery and souvenirs, categories where there is high customer demand, as well as locally sourced products”.
At Belfast City Airport this includes a handmade miniature wooden model of the city’s iconic Samson and Goliath gantry cranes, from local family run business Cowfield Design.
The curi.o.city store is the eighty WHSmith owned outlet in Belfast, including stores at Belfast Victoria Station and Belfast International Airport, and a recently refurbished outlet airside at Belfast City.
The group recently completed store refurbishments at other travel locations including WHSmith Gatwick South, WHSmith Bookshop in Bristol Airport, and WHSmith in Glasgow Central Station.
Commenting on the news Andrew Harrison, managing director WHSmith Travel, said:
“Since launching curi.o.city last year we’ve had great feedback from customers, and we’re delighted to start offering our ranges of high quality stationery and localised gifting and souvenirs to the travelling customers of Belfast City Airport for the first time.
“The growth of curi.o.city shows how WHSmith can adapt and innovate to create strong new, bespoke brands and retail formats and we’ve been pleased with progress to date and excited about what’s next.”
