IGL Duty Free’s main store in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Québec, is located between Montreal and New York City
Ahead of last week’s Frontier Duty Free Association 2023 Convention in Toronto, Canada,Global Travel Retail Magazine spoke with Justin Guay, Vice President at Importations Guay Ltée (IGL Duty Free) to more learn about the current state of land border duty free business at the Canada-US border. The family-owned company is in its third generation and operates three stores. Along with its main store in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Québec, found between Montreal and New York City, IGL Duty Free is open to travelers at two other locations: Boutique Hors Taxes l’Est in Stanstead, Québec, between Montreal and Boston, and Boutique Hors Taxes de Stanhope in Dixville, Québec, between Sherbrooke and Boston. The first store was opened in 1984.
When asked about the constantly changing landscape of duty free and how IGL Duty Free stays relevant, Guay says it’s all about accurately sourcing new goods and products. This is difficult to do since airport stores often have better access to goods. “We have to keep our inventory fresh, but also ensure that we don’t run out. We’re always trying to get a new edition of duty free exclusive products, or new partnerships with companies that we haven’t worked with in the past,” explains Guay. He is actively searching for content creators, social media influencers and brand ambassadors that are a fit for IGL Duty Free.
Justin Guay, Vice President, Importations Guay Ltée
Category performance and luxury brands
According to Guay, American travelers are more likely to purchase whisky and French-Canadian consumers from Québec traveling to the US are more likely to buy wine. “Alcohol is our highest performing category and this is generally the same across locations. We sell a lot of whisky – particularly scotch whisky. We often sell bottles up to CA$50,000 – and for the price, I’d say they sell regularly. We normally have inventory between CA$30,000 – CA$45,000; the ultra-exclusive bottles are hard to source. So, we don’t always have them and when we do have them, they sell,” he says.
IGL Duty Free’s best performing category in terms of growth is fragrances. This is partly because it has introduced as many luxury brands as accessible such as Jo Malone London and Tom Ford. “We have done quite well with the introduction of sought after brands that are hard to find at a price point that is not domestic; we’ve seen our fragrance category perform better than in other years,” adds Guay.
IGL Duty Free’s best performing category is alcohol; The Singleton Paragon of Time No. 2 54-YO single malt whisky [pictured here] was released in exceptionally limited quantities (235 bottles in total) and sold at IGL Duty Free in 2023
A look at 2024
Beyond its primary market, IGL Duty Free welcomes a significant number of travelers from Asia Pacific. While the Chinese consumer has not returned, Guay says the Korean traveler is back and ready to spend. “People are generally buying the same things. While our base is still present, we have noticed a shift in demographic and purchasing differences post-pandemic.” A lot of IGL Duty Free’s traffic is made up of organized tours and motorcoach groups, which is at approximately 75% vs. pre-COVID levels. Outside of standard business, the team recently welcomed a group visiting from South America.
Speaking about the company’s main objective heading into 2024, Guay says IGL Duty Free is focused on finding ways to increase online business and pre-ordering. Right now, it relies on highway billboards, social media and growing partnerships on the US side to generate cross-traffic.
