Banking on the athleisure trend, Supergroup has announced plans to launch directly-owned or franchised stand-alone stores and shop-in-shops for its 18-month-old Superdry Sport range, in a move that is aimed at accelerating what it calls its “global lifestyle” strategy. The British sportswear brand is already sold in 60 countries. After a test at JD Sports stores in the U.K., Supergroup reportedly plans to launch its first Superdry Sport standalone franchise store in Grenoble in October, followed by four more shops at other locations by Christmas, with a view to a wider round of openings next year. The sports line will also be strongly promoted online. The announcement came on the heels of the release of Supergroup's annual financial results, which showed an 18.4 percent rise in pre-tax earnings to £87 million (€98.3m-$112.0m) on 27.4 percent higher revenues of £752 million (€849.6m-$968.3m). Same-store sales went up by 12.7 percent.

Topics