Avolta has officially opened its new 1,000 sqm Brazilian border store in Foz do Iguaçu, the border town adjacent to the Brazilian borders with Paraguay and Argentina.
The new store was opened in the Catuaí Palladium shopping mall, which already hosts duty free stores managed by Cell Shop do Brasil and Paris Duty Free. With the new Dufry store, Catuaí will have more than 4,500 sqm of duty free shopping.
Gustavo Fagundes, CEO of Avolta Brazil, confirmed to TMI that the store will offer all key duty free categories to Brazilian, Argentine, Paraguayan, and other international tourists visiting the region.
“Avolta is committed to advancing border retail in Brazil and we will continue investing in innovation and operational excellence. We will use the experience that Dufry do Brasil – Avolta has gained from operating an 850 sqm store in Uruguaiana in Rio Grande do Sul since 2019. We will bring the best of Avolta to one space offering shoppers a premium sensory and seamless experience connecting the best brands with customer needs and desires.”
“Foz is an excellent tourist destination with great potential, and Catuaí Palladium meets exactly our expectations. We are going to have an enormous success story here,” adds Fagundes. “The business is preparing a strong promotional campaign, focused on frequent travelers, which exceeds 1.5 million people, according to the travel club. We will work on promotions, competitive prices, and robust social media communication, highlighting that Foz is a complete destination for tourism, leisure, and shopping. The strategy for Foz goes beyond product sales.”
The new store in Foz do Iguaçu will be Avolta’s third non-airport store in Latin America. Only four months ago, the world’s number one travel retailer opened a 500 sqm duty free store at the international bridge crossing that links the Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos with Gualeguaychú in Argentina.
In addition to the border stores mentioned, Avolta operates arrivals and departures stores in various airports across Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Ecuador.
With the addition of the Dufry – Avolta store, the Catuaí Palladium shopping mall located on Avenida das Cataratas in Foz do Iguaçu, a tourist corridor leading to the Iguaçu Falls, hotels, and resorts becomes one of the most important tourist destinations in the Triple Frontier region.
The Catuaí Palladium mall welcomes over 2.6 million visitors annually and the mall management estimates that over half of this number visits the duty free shops. In addition to shopping, the space also offers leisure, dining, and events, employing over 1,200 people in the city.
“This is an important moment for the mall and the city. Dufry’s arrival positions Catuaí Palladium as an international shopping hub and strengthens Foz do Iguaçu’s position in the national duty free market,” says João Bazzon, the superintendent of Catuaí.
The border duty free market in Brazil continues to grow. In 2024 alone, the country generated R$530 million in revenue from the sector. Foz do Iguaçu accounted for over R$120 million of this total, second only to Uruguaiana.
