Business Notes Retailing

Bloomingdale's, the glitzy department store chain with 16 branches from Manhattan to Dallas, has long catered to jet-set tastes. Now the retailer wants to be close to the jets as well. Last week it opened a pair of Bloomie's Express Shops at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, thus becoming the first major department store to establish outposts at one of the main hubs of U.S. air travel.

The new shops offer 450 items, ranging from a $1.25 heart-shaped pen to a $100 crystal plate, and the airport location guarantees captive high-income customers. Foreign travelers seem to appreciate that members of the sales staff speak seven languages, from French to Chinese. If sales at the Express Shops take off, Bloomingdale's plans to open stores at other airports, both in the U.S. and abroad.