Iconic Oxford Circus Location Leads Nike's National Retail Strategy
LONDON, Nov 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) today
announced the official reopening of the company's flagship Niketown
store on Oxford Circus in central London, following extensive
redevelopment that makes it the largest Nike store in the World.
Niketown London now covers approximately 42,000 square feet over four
floors. Its reopening forms part of a series of planned new store
openings across the UK designed to provide a premium experience across
the company's key sports categories: Football, Running, Basketball,
Sportswear (lifestyle), Action Sports, Athletic Training and Women's
Training.
This aligns with Nike's global strategy outlined earlier this year at
the company's investor meeting held in New York, which detailed plans
to open approximately 250-300 new Nike-branded stores (mix of branded
stores and factory outlet stores) worldwide over the next five years.
In addition to the newly enhanced Niketown London store, and existing
Nike stores in London Westfield, London Bluewater and Liverpool, the
company has plans to launch another multi-category location in Glasgow
in 2011. These sit alongside single-category stores, such as the Nike
running store in Covent Garden which opened in October, and a new
football-only store set to open in Manchester in mid-November.
Marc van Pappelendam, general manager, Nike UK Ltd commented, "Nike
is committed to offering consumers access to engaging, exciting and
innovative retail spaces. The re-launch of our flagship Niketown London
store demonstrates our drive to continue to raise our game and offer our
consumers world-class shopping experiences in line with our long-term
category strategy."
Niketown London, located in Oxford Circus, has acquired iconic status
with Londoners and visitors alike since it opened as one of the city's
first brand retail experiences in1999. The store has now expanded from three to four floors with services and experiences that include:
- A two-floor NIKEiD studio (and
football boot-specific iD studio) for consumers to go online to design
and customize their own footwear, clothing and equipment, complete with
design consultants to assist them
- A state of the art football boot fitting machine, allowing players the chance to steam mould boots to their feet
- A boot embroidery service, allowing names, flags and numbers to be stitched onto football boots
- An online kit-builder tool for football teams to customise their own kits, along with a shirt printing and numbering service
- Video gait analysis and trained staff to help runners to work out exactly what type of shoe suits their running style
- Weekly running clubs (NikeTown runners) which take place from the store on Tuesday nights
The third floor is dedicated to showcasing the latest women's apparel
and footwear and action sports including Nike 6.0 which has gained
additional merchandising space. Further offerings in the world's biggest
Niketown include specific areas dedicated to running, tennis, rugby,
basketball, football, training and Nike sportswear.
The exclusive new Nike Running Store in Covent Garden brings the
unique services available at Niketown London including gait analysis and
expert advice to provide a more customized experience in the heart of
one of London's busiest shopping districts. With weekly Run Clubs
enabling runners of all levels to take to the streets of London, it is
quickly establishing itself as home to runners across the city. Building
on this store's success, Nike plans to open another running-specific
store in Cardiff on 17th November.
The new football-only store is set to open in Manchester in
mid-November, bringing exciting services including NIKEiD, football boot
embroidery and customised kit building facilities. Also a first, the
store will offer consumers access to the latest football product and
technology from both Nike and Umbro under one roof.
-Ends-
For more information, including multi-media materials, please visit: www.nikemedia.com
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6501691&lang=en
SOURCE: NIKE, Inc.
NIKE, Inc.
Ryan Greenwood, 07919 927 502
Ryan.Greenwood@nike.com
or
Charlie Brooks
Charlie.brooks@nike.com
or
Nike UK Communications Dept
020 7578 0500