Manchester’s malls and high street’s are increasingly important sites for flagship openings and the city itself is an ever more crucial UK fashion hub. Its airport is pretty popular too and this week there have been two announcements about major retail openings there.

Pandora has opened the doors to its first ever UK-owned airport store with the launch of Pandora Manchester Airport, “marking a major milestone for the brand’s presence in travel retail”. 

The new store, in Terminal 2, is part of the airport’s £1.3 billion transformation programme. It has a 14-metre pink-tiled façade and two large-format digital screens, reflecting the brand’s newest visual identity and immersive retail design. 

The store carries the full range of its jewellery collections, including Pandora Lab-Grown Diamonds, engraving services, and the summer collection, “which brings together organic textures, vibrant colours, and ocean-inspired designs”.

Given its location, the store is offering plenty of gift ideas that might appeal to travelling shoppers, as well as self-purchase items. And it will also be the first in the UK to offer a curated selection of national icon travel charms from destinations around the world.

Pandora Manchester Airport is actually the first of three new airport openings in 2025, as part of the brand’s growing investment in UK travel retail. A second location is set to open in Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal in mid-August, followed by London Luton Airport in early September.

Meanwhile, beauty and wellbeing brand Rituals has been on an opening spree in recent months and it has just opened its newest store, also in Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport.

The company said it’s a “thriving and high-footfall location” and while airport stores are often designed to get shoppers in and out quickly, this one “will offer an immersive experience” that encourages dwell time.

Annemarie Forsyth, MD of Rituals Cosmetics (UK & Ireland), said: “Our philosophy is all about helping people slow down and find joy in everyday moments, whether through indulgent bath rituals or soothing home fragrances.”