SNEAK PEEK | Sports Direct to open flagship Manchester store tomorrow
Taking up five floors in the Manchester Arndale, the 50,000 sq ft store will include a Belong e-sports arena as well as space for video game retailer GAME and fashion shop USC.
When it opens on Friday, the Manchester store will be the third flagship location for the Frasers Group brand. The other two flagships are in London and Birmingham.
The Manchester location marks the completion of a multi-million-pound investment that saw the former BHS space transformed into a tech-enabled, interactive shopping experience.
Customers will be able to engage with a golf putting green and a Jordan basketball performance challenge. The store will also offer running gait analysis and a dedicated bra studio to help consumers find the right product to fit their needs.
![Sports Direct Manchester Flagship in Arndale Sports Direct p Frasers Group Sports Direct Manchester Flagship in Arndale Sports Direct p Frasers Group](https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Sports-Direct-Manchester-Flagship-in-Arndale-2-Sports-Direct-p-Frasers-Group-900x600.jpg)
Shoppers looking for branded fashion, footwear, and accessories will find them at the new Sports Direct. Credit: via Frasers Group
In addition to the space dedicated to GAME, Belong, and USC, the Sports Direct flagship will have areas focused on football, running, specialist sports, and clothing for men, women, and children.
“Our third Sports Direct flagship, marks another step towards our strategic goal to become the number one sports retailer in EMEA,” said Sports Direct chief executive Michael Murray.
“Each new store opening is pivotal to the next phase of growth for the group, as we continue to bring the very best brands, environment, product innovations, and experiences to the high street,” he continued.
“Manchester is a significant location for the group, and we’re excited to be opening our next flagship in the city.”
Prior to opening the flagship, Sports Direct occupied 29,000 sq ft at the Manchester Arndale. The new location sees the brand more than double its footprint, as it has taken a total of 58,500 sq ft – the sales floor taking up 50,000 sq ft of that figure.
Sports Direct signed a 15-year lease for its new home last year. Metis Real Estate and Time Retail Partners acted for Manchester Arndale on the deal, while CBRE advised Sports Direct.
Mott MacDonald was the structural engineer involved in setting up the flagship store.
Any photos of the exterior of this magnificent place?
By Arndale hater
5 floors? Where are the other 3 floors located? The Arndale has Lower and Upper Malls.
By Phil
Flagship!!!?
SportsDirect have stores everywhere
By Sidney
Julia Hatmaker needs to do some research.
It only has two floors already
By Anon
Hi Anon. I dedicated this tweet to you: https://twitter.com/JuliaHatmaker/status/1639257517157957634
By Julia Hatmaker
Hope it has Sports Direct Mug the size of 5 floors
By CityCentre
Manchester is according to development community a thriving city then why had nearly all high end retail pulled out to be replaced by this?.Now in cities like Nice and Lyon in France you have plenty quality shopping so why can’t we have that if Manchester is doing so great?.
By Bob James
Bob James which high end retailers are you referring to in particular? Perhaps short sighted when you have End, Canada Goose, the stalwarts in Selfridges and Harvey Nichols bringing the big brands to Manchester. Frasers are increasingly increasing their brand offering, you only have to point to Flannels in Liverpool to see this, its not always about the single old fashioned department stores which low end brands anymore, its about the quality of brands that stores can attract.
By C
Wow wow wow stunning
By Anonymous
Bob is right. The retail offer in Manchester City centre is poor and declining and the principal reason for this is the existence of the Arndale Centre which makes moving around and shopping in the city centre a miserable and stressful experience. Also the bulk of our retail space sits in this hulking monolith which simultaneously undermines the viability of other parts of the city centre as the failed retail scheme at Spinningfields and the perpetual churn on King Street bears out.
Manchester can’t ever claim to be an international class city until it sorts out the Arndale centre, ideally by its comprehensive redevelopment or complete demolition and re-build.
By Anon
@Phil Look at TK Maxx which has a basement below the lower mall and Urban Outfitters which has 3 floors. I’m sure the old BHS utilised mezzanines to give it extra floors
By Manc
Isn’t the point of a flagship store to be the best one? So there can’t be 3 lol
By Levelling Up Manager
Looks good, I’m a bit confused with the 5 floors too….some Arndale stores do have 3 floors, one being a basement, but I can’t think where you would fit five floors.
By Manc Man
Hi Manc Man – there are mezzanines added in. If you are still in doubt, I shot video of all five levels. You can find the video in the twitter link of my reply to anonymous.
By Julia Hatmaker