Panama-based Top Brands International has expanded rapidly in the Latin American duty free segment in recent years. Even though initial expansion coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, the company, owned and managed by the Yahoros family, has continued to look for growth opportunities throughout the Americas.
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Neutral in Uruguay
In 2019, Top Brands took a giant step with the purchase of Neutral Duty Free, the largest duty free chain in Uruguay, marking a significant development in their regional growth. Neutral operates eight duty free stores in all six Uruguayan border cities where duty free retailing is permitted. Since the acquisition, Top Brands has continued to invest in the retail stores they operate on the Uruguayan border with Brazil.
Over the last few years, the company has performed ahead of the market; total revenues in Q1 2025 were 33% ahead of the same three months in 2024 and considerably ahead of the figures reported in 2019 pre-pandemic, Neutral CEO Marcelo Montico confirmed. He expects 2025 will be a particularly good year for the Uruguayan operation.
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Asuncion concession
In December 2019, Top Brands won a ten-year concession at Silvio Pettirossi airport in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to stop work on major store renovations at the airport, but construction was re-started in May 2022 when the Paraguayan government permitted the airport to resume normal operations. Top Brands, under the Luryx fascia, quickly completed several temporary refurbishments and coordinated a soft opening of the duty free stores.
By November 2022, the totally renovated 1,200 sqm walk-through store was fully operational and suppliers report that sales are going well.
Iquique expansion
In January this year, the company further expanded its Latin American footprint by acquiring the 1,200 sqm Mega Shopping from the Paraguayan Vierci group. Mega Shopping is the biggest single retail operation in the Zofri Mall at Iquique Free Trade Zone in Chile and has been rebranded under their Luryx retail identity.
And now Brazil
However, a bigger acquisition was only a few weeks away and at the end of February the company announced the acquisition of a downtown duty free operation in Foz do Iguaçu from a group of Brazilian and international entrepreneurs. At the same time, Top Brands signed an exclusive contract to open a new duty free store at Dreams Park, located just outside the center of Foz do Iguaçu, situated on the main highway from the city to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu waterfalls and adjacent to the borders of Argentina and Paraguay.
Marcelo Montico, CEO of Neutral – Luryx in Uruguay, is heading up the project, which is expected to open by the third quarter of this year.
“The store is located within the Dreams theme park, a big retail and entertainment complex just outside the center of Foz do Iguaçu. Location is especially important in retail and in Foz do Iguaçu there are very few accessible options; in practice, you have to pick a location at an established shopping mall or decide to do something a little different,” Montico tells TMI.
“Our Company has had a lot of success selling to Brazilian consumers who travel to the border duty free stores in Uruguay and we had already started to look at Foz de Iguazú as a possible place to establish a new operation, when the current opportunity came up. We are convinced it is an excellent location, and the park will bring us shoppers, and we will bring people to spend time in the park as well.”
The new 2,700 sqm store will be housed on two retail floors. The attractive layout is being designed to maximize all categories.
“Many brands are investing in merchandising units, and we are sure that all categories will look really exceptional when we open. Shoppers will have a wonderful experience with us – there will be more than two hundred video screens, we will even have videos of the waterfalls so shoppers will remember where they are! It will be a complete multi-sensorial experience with vaporizers emitting essences and aromas from the Amazonian jungle as well – it will be a very different retail adventure for the shoppers but it will be a tremendous experience for all who visit the store!”
“Shoppers will enter at the ground floor level and will hit the area of perfumes & cosmetics, which is sure to be one of our biggest revenue generators; this level is completed by fashion & accessories and destination souvenirs and other related to the Iguaçu region – the lower floor will have a great selection of wines & spirits, our other big category, and this level will be completed with a wide variety of confectionery, tobacco, toys and technology.”
New name introduced
“Initially we were convinced that the store should be named Neutral by Luryx. But our marketing people conducted extensive research to assess the relevance of the brand name to the target traveler. In complete contrast to our ongoing research with our shoppers in Rivera, Chuy, and other locations, we found that the Neutral brand had little relevance to the visitor to Foz do Iguaçu. Visitors to the stores on the Uruguayan border are looking for a strong retail promise with good promotion and a retailer with experience and solid brand name. On the Iguazu border, however, the traveler wants sufficient time to see the waterfalls in Brazil and Argentina and maybe the Itaipu dam and the hydroelectric power station. Shopping, although important, is seen as a secondary pursuit after sightseeing,” explains Montico.
According to Montico, 3.5 million Brazilians plus another 700,000 international travelers visit Iguaçu every year, compared to one million Argentines who visit Puerto Iguazú in Argentina.
“So, with all the data in hand we decided to use the Luryx retail fascia in our new location and after evaluating the logo designs, we are totally convinced that this is the correct way to go,” he says.
Since the company announced the deal, they have been working non-stop internally to prepare for the opening.
Like almost all of the Brazilian border stores, Neutral is using the free zones in Uruguay to warehouse its goods.
“We will continually analyze [this operation] to make sure we are using the best logistics system for our shoppers and to make sure our suppliers do not have any out of stock situations,” says Montico.
Incorporating shopping into tourism “One of the things that differentiates Foz do Iguaçu from the Uruguay border locations is that shopping is a secondary motivation for the journey, so if we can make shopping part of a tourist activity, we believe we have a win-win situation,” he says.
“Our store has a super privileged location within the Dreams Park complex – as you enter the complex the attractions ticket office is on the left and we are on the right – you cannot miss our store when you enter. You can enter the complex and come direct to our store without visiting the attractions but if you do buy tickets to see other parts of the park, you will get a series of benefits and promotions specially created for park users – these promotions and special offers will be delivered direct to your cell phone.”
While its location within the Dreams Park complex is a little different for a retail store, Montico says that it is a great incentive for people to come and shop with them. In fact, the Dreams Park company has just announced a R$60m investment to bring more attractions to the park, which will coincide with the opening of the store.
A House of Terror, Hollywood Dream Cars, Super Cars Show, Kart 360 and a themed Pizzeria will be added to the existing attractions, the Dreams Wax Museum, the Dreams Ice Bar, the Valley of the Dinosaurs, Eco Park Foz, Marvels of the World and the Dreams Motor show.
Tailored promotions
Neutral will be working closely with the park to coordinate promotions and activities.
“All of the attractions of the park offer great experiences to a whole variety of publics from the young to the very old and people in between. We will be working closely with the park owners to offer the right sort of promotions and the right sort of experiences to potential shoppers,” adds Montico.
“Once people buy their tickets for the attractions, we will be able to see how many people are in the group and their ages and we can offer special promotions or tastings or other unique events to make sure they come into the store. We will be making use of artificial intelligence to specially create the best promotional package for each visitor.
“The beauty of our commercial offer will not just be a price saving but a very solid shopping experience with real attractions and relevant promotions.”
Neutral will also collaborate with local hotels and other tourist attractions like golf courses, to bring tourists to the park to shop.
Foz do Iguaçu is the second biggest tourist attraction in Brazil after Rio de Janeiro, and Montico stresses that Neutral’s objective — along with the other companies that work in the park –is to give visitors another reason to remember their stay in the area.
“We are convinced that the new store will give all our shoppers the very best retail experience,” he concludes.
John Gallagher
