Under Armour (UA) has opened its first own store in Spain, according to CMDsport. Located at the Westfield La Maquinista mall in Barcelona, the store covers 450 square meters and sells men’s and women’s apparel, shoes and accessories for fitness, running, basketball and other sports.
The brand has been operating in Spain through such retailers as El Corte Inglés, Intersport, Base and Forum, as well as specialty shops. As CMDsport observes, it opened its largest European shop-in-shop last year at the El Corte Inglés in Portal Del Angel (Barcelona).
According to Palco23, the new brand store is at once the first in Spain to open under UA’s Brand House concept and the result of a deal with Grup Galcerán.
A Catalonian company specialized in the distribution of foreign brands, Galcerán recently lost its account with Nike, which has been bringing ever more of its distribution in-house. No doubt, in part to make up the loss, it has signed a deal this month to handle Under Armour’s business in Spain through franchises, which themselves will be run through a company called Intens.
UA once had subsidiaries in Paris, Munich, Manchester and Barcelona, but the lockdowns induced it to close them temporarily and then permanently. The brand now handles its European business through the recent “digital hub” at its headquarters in Amsterdam, which handles business for the Middle East and Africa as well.
