Dufry

The Dufry AG, based in Basel is an international Swiss travel retailer.

The company operates in 42 countries on four continents around 1,100 duty-free and duty -paid shops in airports, on cruise ships, in seaports, railway stations, city centers, planes, ferries and at border crossings.

Dufry employs more than 11,200 people and generated 2009 sales of 2.379 billion Swiss francs. Since December 2005, the company is listed on the Swiss Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange.

History

The company was founded in 1865 as a retail shop under the name Weitenauer. 1948 rose Weitenauer a wholesaler in the duty-free shop, a. With the opening of its first duty free shop in Paris in 1953, the company began in this area to act as a retailer.

In 2003 the company was renamed Dufry and strategically realigned the following year with travel retail trade as its core business. The wholesale business and the non-core legacy activities were sold. In December 2005, the company went through IPO on the stock exchange.

In the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, Dufry completed several major acquisitions abroad. In particular, the acquisition of Brasif, the largest operator of duty-free shops in Brazil, the company helped a quantum leap in South America.