Covering four floors on one of Birmingham’s main shopping streets, the new Sports Direct flagship store uses roughly 5.500 square meters of retail space. The chain, part of the Frasers Group, has closed its older two-floor store in Birmingham on April 10, while a second Birmingham store is said to continue operating. The new location is a former Primark site and features Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Asics and Puma as its major brands. Sports and activities covered range from football – where there is a section with an artificial grass floor – to running, training, boxing, walking, dance, cycling and swimming. Besides men’s, women’s and kidswear, the store also includes Evans Cycles and Game sections, a bra studio, and a customization zone for limited edition customized designs.
Michael Murray, the new CEO of Sports Direct, said the company wants to “supercharge the next generation of British retail.” He has just taken over from Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley – his future father-in-law – as chief executive of Frasers Group and is one of the youngest chief executives in FTSE 250 companies. The Birmingham flagship store is the second one sized over 4,500 square meters (the critical size for the company to speak of a “flagship”) after the opening in London. Local newspapers talk of an investment of €11.5 million made by the sports retailer in the new store in Birmingham.
