Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is hoping to lift travel retail sales significantly in the Americas through what it calls “a strategic global retail partnership” with Duty Free Americas (DFA), the largest travel retailer in the region.
ELC—which has struggled to perform and saw its stock trough at $50 in early April, after pandemic highs of over $300—has overhauled its global travel retail division in a bid to lift its poor performance. The division is currently led by Olivier Dubos, Senior Vice President and General Manager since December 2024, after the departure of long-time Senior Travel Retail Executive Israel Assa from the company.
More recently, in July, the travel retail arm made two vital appointments: Umair Ansari as Senior Vice President of Travel Retail for both EMEA and the Americas, while Lina Ly joined as Senior Vice President of Travel Retail Asia Pacific.
The DFA deal falls within Ansari’s remit, and in recent weeks he has been visiting some of the more dynamic airports across the Americas as he gets a feel for his expanded role covering the Americas as well as EMEA.
Historical Dissonance and Lack of Clarity
Details of the DFA partnership were vague. In response to questions about Lauder’s existing presence, if any, with the Florida-based travel retailer, and how many locations the beauty house might enter, a spokesperson told BeautyMatter: “No further details at this time on the DFA partnership … but we will share more information in the future.” The beauty house was also silent on which particular brands it would focus on in DFA stores. It is possible that the details are still being ironed out.
ELC and DFA had been embroiled in a legal dispute that started in 2007 when Lauder tried to standardize its pricing across domestic and duty-free channel, something DFA did not like because it would raise prices at its stores, and the company terminated its business dealings with Estée Lauder by June 2008. Thereafter, ELC’s travel retail division started opening its own stores, for example in the airports of Detroit and Dallas Forth Worth.
Though DFA brought a case against ELC DFA's on antitrust grounds and overreach of market power—including DFA being handicapped in bids for airport contracts without ELC products onboard—the case was dismissed in 2014 as was an appeal a few months later in 2015.
Patching Things Up
At the time of the case, ELC had reach in US airports; court documents put its share of sales at 50%. DFA therefore took a considerable gamble in not stocking any of ELC’s huge portfolio, which currently includes Clinique, Jo Malone London, MAC, La Mer, The Ordinary, and Tom Ford.
Instead, DFA introduced new beauty brands to replace ELC lines in its duty-free stores. One example was Smashbox, which saw significant traction, but after ELC acquired it in 2010, it stopped supplying the brand to DFA according to the court.
Now it seems that DFA might have the upper hand given ELC’s financial woes. The deal, however is vague. It is unclear which ELC brands will be new to DFA’s retail network and exactly what extra access the house will have to travelers. ELC said the retail partnership would include “personalized in-store engagement” but with no mention of the brands involved or at how many stores.
In a press release, the American beauty house, which describes itself as “a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally,” said: “This exciting collaboration marks a significant milestone in elevating prestige beauty experiences for international travelers and will be a key driver in ELC’s accelerated expansion ambitions in the Americas.”
DFA, part of the family-run Falic Group, has about 250 stores globally spanning airports, seaports, and borders, with beauty a core component of its business. It is a major player in the duty-free business on the two borders of the United States with Mexico and Canada.
The company claims to be the largest duty-free operator in the Americas with stores at multiple American airports, including a big new win at the New Terminal One (NTO) at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport—which may well have triggered the new accord—as well as existing shops at gateways across Latin America like Panama, Colombia, and Uruguay. In Macau, China, DFA also runs upscale cosmetics- and fragrance-focused stores at the luxury The Venetian Macao Hotel on the Cotai Strip where it operate 12,000 square feet of retail space.
Travel Retail’s Role in Brand Elevation
Commenting on the deal, Duty Free Americas’ CEO Jerome Falic said it would “set a new benchmark for excellence in travel retail” while ELC’s Dubos added, “We are confident that our work together positions us well to generate strong retail sales growth in the Americas for ELC’s travel retail business in fiscal 2026.” The company’s new financial year began in July, so the rollout of ELC’s brands is expected to reap rewards in the coming months.
The GM added, “This partnership is anchored in consumer-centricity, the driving force behind our ‘Beauty Reimagined’ strategy. We continue to elevate the role of travel retail in building brand equity, and we look forward to delivering exceptional experiences with DFA that deepen consumer connections with our brands and products.”
However, there is no certainty about the growth that both sides expect as the current travel picture at US airports is one of decline. According to an assessment released by theDepartment of Transportation in July, air passenger traffic between the US and the rest of the world in March 2025 decreased by 2% to 21.3 million versus March 2024.
The biggest markets of Central America (chiefly Mexico), Europe, Canada/Greenland, and the Caribbean were down by 2%, 3%, 4%, and flat, respectively. This is thought to be a Trump-led impact and was magnified by Middle East traffic dropping by 21% in March. Big global travel retailers like Avolta and Lagardère also both saw their Americas growth curtailed in their latest half-year results, while Europe was buoyant, signaling uncertainty, at least for the rest of the year.
