Sales fly away

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

At the Perfumania store at McCarran International Airport, you can buy Carolina Herrera's Fly With Me fragrance for $65.

But if you try to fly with the bottle of perfume, it will be grounded by the Transportation Security Administration's new regulations against carrying liquids onto planes.

The new policy is putting a damper on sales at McCarran retail outlets that specialize in lotions, potions and things that smell nice. One retailer said her store, which typically sells $1,200 to $1,500 in goods daily, has seen sales plummet to $500 a day since the new rules took effect last week after British authorities foiled an alleged terrorist plot to blow up trans-Atlantic planes midflight.

Just as McCarran's security checkpoints separate passengers from those greeting or saying goodbye to them, the checkpoints also are an important dividing line for airport shops.

At shops encountered before reaching security, gels, lotions and liquids affected by the new TSA regulations are among a wide range of products sold, along with typical souvenir fare such as T-shirts and Las Vegas trinkets.

But on the secure side of the checkpoints, some stores sell virtually nothing but items now banned in carry-on luggage. Coupled with the fact that such stores also have lost many departing passengers as potential customers, that has cut deeply into sales since the new regulations took effect.

The TSA has not announced how long the new rules will be in effect or whether they will ever be rescinded.

That uncertainty has some wondering whether some retailers will be around at the airport in the newest new era of airport security.

"If this lasts very long, we may need to re-evaluate some of the leases with retailers," McCarran spokeswoman Elaine Sanchez said.

Jackie Hartman, manager of McCarran's Perfumania store - on the secure side of airport screeners in the D terminal - said she still can sell to airport employees, uniformed crew members and inbound passengers. But she won't sell anything to outbound passengers.

"I just ask them whether they're coming in or going out," Hartman said.

Signs explaining the TSA rules on liquids and gels are posted at every cash register. McCarran officials also printed and distributed 1,600 fliers.

If outbound passengers lie to a clerk and buy an illegal item , they still could get busted at the gate in a secondary TSA screening or by an airline employee.

But because secondary screenings are rare, an outbound passenger's decision on whether to purchase banned items hinges more on the honor system than that person's concern over additional security checks. In most cases, the only thing stopping a passenger who already has passed through the airport's main security checkpoint from buying a bottle of shampoo and slipping it into his carry-on bag is his conscience.

Kim Burrs, director of marketing for The Body Shop, said the company's efforts have been focused on following the TSA's directives and urging customers to buy from nonairport stores or at the firm's Web site, bodyshop.com.

She would not disclose how much the company has been affected, but noted that only 14 of the company's 340 U.S. stores are in airports.

Jeana Beckwith, a manager at Crabtree & Evelyn near the D gates, said customers have been surprised that the store remained open after the new security directives were issued.

But Crabtree & Evelyn is making sales by offering to mail purchases for free for customers, a policy that took effect last week.

One new rule that particularly aggravates Beckwith is a prohibition of drinks brought by store employees.

"We can take a cup and fill it with water or we can buy drinks on the secure side, but we can't bring our own," she said. "But the TSA workers can have their own drinks."

Retailers who sell drinks have not been as severely affected by the new ban because most customers buy and drink up before boarding flights.

Sanchez said retailers are supposed to remind customers of that when they make a purchase, but not every checker was following that directive this week.

Passengers unaware of the restrictions have been forced to surrender perfumes, shampoos and hair gels, body lotions and various other items before passing through security.

Sanchez said there has been no Dumpster-diving for expensive perfume at the airport.

"Once it's in the trash, it's trash," Sanchez said. Airport workers caught searching for expensive items left behind will be disciplined, she added.