Covid-19 delays Auckland store opening for mega retailer JD Sports
Thursday, 26 August 2021
Covid-19 has put a hold on the grand opening of Sylvia Park’s JD Sports store, the first for the chain in New Zealand.
It was meant to open on Thursday but cannot while the country is in level 4.
Chief executive for Australia and New Zealand Hilton Seskin confirmed it was ready to go.
The 850sqm Auckland store’s design jas been adapted from the Paris and New York fitouts. The shop will have 10,000 stock items and more than 1000 product lines.
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“Our thoughts are with all New Zealand retailers who have been impacted by the current lockdown, and we support the measures being used to keep everyone safe,” Seskin said.
JD Sports has performed well overseas in recent years on the back of the “athleisure” boom, in which even the less sporty shoppers have snapped up sportswear.
Seskin said that was set to continue.
“One of the trends that was already in place but has manifestly increased over the past year is the casualisation of dress, a movement which has been shaped not just by the rise of video conferencing but also by the millennial generation reflecting their desire for more work-life balance in the workplace,” Seskin said.
“Sport and music play an integral role in our brand DNA, and to show up authentically to the NZ consumer we know we need to localise, which is why we’re in the process of exploring opportunities in market with various talent and sports codes.”
The store design includes digital kiosks for customers to buy international product lines directly from the JD Sports inventory pool. If a product seen online isn’t in the store an employee can organise the online purchase while a customer is in the shop.
Seskin said the store fitout and technology was designed to “proactively discourage Kiwi consumers from shopping overseas and retain sales within their domestic retail ecosystem”.
This means the tax the company pays stays in New Zealand.
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said the pending opening of JD Sports was “epic news” for consumers.
“JD Sports is a high energy and highly theatrical retail environment, and it will be hugely welcomed by consumers,” Wilkinson said.
“These kinds of products have a bit of a cult following. We’ve seen people lining outside these stores waiting to get in for these limited release sneakers. That’s the kind of market JD Sports taps into.”
Wilkinson said it was a coup for Kiwi Property to secure JD Sports for the Sylvia Park mall.
“It is also an exciting move for New Zealand because it symbolises another brand that is coming and no doubt they will put more stores in other parts of the country.”
The rillion retailer has 2600 stores internationally and is at 33 locations in Australia.The company was established in 1981 by John Wardle and David Makin, (JD) in Bury, Manchester.
Prior to the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown Swedish company Ikea, which sells ready-to-assemble home wares and decor, announced its plan to open an outlet here, but had yet to confirm an opening date.
It plans to have an Ikea pop-up store functioning six months prior to a store opening, to give consumers a taste of what’s to come.