(Alliance News) - Sports Direct is looking to expand into major UK and European cities, the Financial Times reported Friday, saying the retail chain wants to improve its relations with key brands and take on UK rival JD Sports Fashion PLC.
Sports Direct is owned by Frasers Group PLC, whose head of "elevation", Michael Murray, made the comments while unveiling a GBP10 million refurbishment of its store on Oxford Street in London.
"We have a strong and compelling five-year plan to become the partner of choice for brands," he said, according to the FT. "We've spent three years testing, learning and building confidence with our partners."
The partners include Germany's Adidas AG and the US's Nike Inc and Under Armour Inc.
While Sports Direct has large European operations, it lacks flagship stores in large cities such as Berlin and Paris that those brands demand and that JD Sports has, the newspaper explained.
https://www.ft.com/content/34364f12-1094-4996-a919-fb6f845b28ce?segmentId=b0d7e653-3467-12ab-c0f0-77e4424cdb4c
Frasers shares were down 0.3% at 576.50 pence in London on Friday, while JD Sports was down 0.8%.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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