Hudson Group acquires 34 Brookstone airport stores
Hudson Group will take over all Brookstone brand operations in U.S. airports.
The travel retailer has signed an agreement to acquire assets related to the operation of Brookstone stores in U.S. airports from electronics manufacturer Apex Digital Inc. Hudson has also obtained the right to be the exclusive airport retailer to operate Brookstone stores through a license agreement with private equity firm Bluestar Alliance LLC, owner of the Brookstone brand and trademarks. Furthermore, Hudson will have the exclusive right to sell select Brookstone merchandise in its travel convenience stores.
The agreement covers 34 airport stores, of which 30 are currently open and operating. Of these 34 stores, 33 stores are in airports where Hudson has existing operations.
“The addition of Brookstone to our already diverse portfolio of branded concepts further strengthens our retail offering and nicely complements our travel convenience business,” said Roger Fordyce, Hudson Group CEO. “We are pleased Bluestar has entrusted Hudson to grow Brookstone’s brand across U.S. airports, which underscores our strong reputation of successfully operating branded and specialty stores in the highly-regulated travel retail environment.”
“We are proud to announce our new partnership with Hudson Group, the preeminent leader in the industry, who will now operate, manage and most importantly, grow our Brookstone branded retail footprint in North America,” said Joey Gabbay, CEO of Bluestar Alliance.
In March 2019, Brookstone emerged from bankruptcy through a partnership formed by Apex Digital and Bluestar Alliance, which saved 30 of Brookstone’s airport shops, the company’s website, and wholesale operations.
Hudson Group operates over 1,000 duty-paid and duty-free stores in 89 locations, including airports, commuter terminals, hotels and landmarks and tourist destinations. Store concepts include travel essentials and convenience stores, bookstores, duty-free shops, branded specialty stores, electronics stores, and quick-service food and beverage outlets.