JD Sports to expand at Silverburn as Glasgow mall growth accelerates

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 3, 2017

Glasgow’s Silverburn mall is continuing to attract a strong tenant mix and to see expansion among the big names that are already there. The latest piece of news from landlord Hammerson is that JD Sports is going to open a new and upsized regional flagship there in November.

The opening comes as the UK’s most successful destinations win out in the battle to boost their flagship quota, despite many store chains rethinking their physical store strategies and downsizing brick-and-mortar locations in the face of expanding e-tail sales.

The mall operator said that the new JD Sports will cover 1,192 sq m across two floors, nearly double the size of the sports giant’s original store there.

Designed by an in-house team, the store interior and exterior will incorporate the latest fit-outs that are being rolled out across the brand’s store estate.

Glasgow as a whole enjoys a retail market size of £4.26bn annually and is an increasingly popular destination for flagships. The city came 38th out of 1,000 in the 2017 Parker Dennis Hobbs ranking of the most dynamic UK retail destinations. Silverburn would have played a key role in it reaching this level, which was 30 places higher than it managed in 2014, the last time the ranking was published.

Other recent openings at Silverburn have included luxury retailer Flannels and high-end beauty, bath and body specialist Molton Brown.

The new JD Sports store actually retains the brand’s existing location and expands to cover 820 sq m on the ground floor and 372 sq m on the first floor. It will offer its full line-up of major-name trainers and sports apparel.

Hammerson’s UK Commercial Director Iain Mitchell said the opening mirrors “a wider trend in which internationally renowned brands are prioritising larger, experiential stores in prime venues. The brand’s desire to upsize is a result of its successful performance at Silverburn and is a reflection of the centre’s position as the region’s leading retail and leisure destination.”