JD Sports enters Mexico with 140-store franchise

Mexico’s population exceeds 130 million, with about 40 percent under the age of 25, a demographic mix that maps closely onto JD’s footwear and apparel customer base. Mexico’s activewear market, the communication reminds, is valued at roughly $6.5 billion and could exceed $10 billion by 2034, driven by running, football and lifestyle fashion demand.

Forbes has separately ranked Mexico among the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, per the release. The structure differs from how JD built its existing North American business: the retailer entered the US in 2018 by acquiring Finish Line, then expanded further with the 2024 purchase of Hibbett for $1.1 billion, a market that represented 38 percent of group sales for the 52 weeks to Jan. 31.

Mexico instead extends a franchise model JD and sister brand Courir already run across 75 stores in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, adding scale in a new region through a franchise structure rather than direct ownership. Under the agreement, Axo will operate JD stores and e-commerce in Mexico under license starting in 2027, folding more than 140 locations onto its existing sneaker retail network. Over time, key sites are expected to be rebuilt to JD’s larger, flagship “bigger and better” format.

Axo was founded in 1994 by Gómez and Alberto Fasja after the pair secured the exclusive Mexican license for Tommy Hilfiger, and has since built a portfolio that includes Coach, Guess, Victoria’s Secret, Nike and Calvin Klein, according to the company. Growth-equity firm General Atlantic became a strategic investor in the business in 2017, and Axo expanded beyond Mexico in 2022 by acquiring Komax, a Chile-based retailer with stores across Chile, Peru and Uruguay that represents brands including The North Face, Gap and Marmot