
Royal Capi-Lux was established in 1894 by the photographer C.A.P. Ivens when he opened his specialist photography shop in the city of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The company offered photographic equipment, supplies and services to professional and amateur photographers alike, and for many years, had stores in towns and cities across the Netherlands. During the last few decades, the company began to focus solely on airport retail and is no longer active outside this arena.
Royal Capi-Lux has seven subsidiaries: Capi-Lux Netherlands, Capi-Lux Plaza, Capi-Lux Germany, Capi-Lux Finland, Capi-Lux South Africa, Capi-Lux Norway and Capi Global. These subsidiaries are all active in electronics retail, yet completely focused on retail at airports either directly via Capi shops or by offering a balanced product portfolio to other airport retailers.
The company has a strong history of organic growth, and doubled in size when Royal Capi-Lux bought competitor Take-Off Multitronics and merged it into the Capi organisation.
Capi-Lux Plaza opened its doors landside in May 1995 as part of the Schiphol Plaza Shopping Centre. Capi-Lux Plaza operates the Capi shop based on a unique retail approach and runs it independently with its own staff. Capi-Lux Plaza is open 365 days a year from 7am to 10pm. It offers a range of CDs, DVDs, games, photographic equipment, video and audio systems, consumer electronics articles, computers, personal care electronics, outdoor electronics and telecommunications equipment. Its product range is fully aligned to the customer’s wishes and requirements. Its customer base includes both arriving and departing passengers of Schiphol, customers from the surrounding area and airport employees.
