‘High Street is not dead’
Shops still crucial says JD Sports
THE boss of trainer chain JD Sports yesterday insisted Britain’s high streets are “not dead”.
Peter Cowgill said stores were vital to his firm’s success – because people still like the “social nature” of going shopping.
It came as JD, which yesterday overtook Marks & Spencer by stock market value, reported record half-year results, with sales surging 35% to £1.8billion.
Many high street chains have had a dismal 2018 due to rising costs and online competition.
Debenhams was this week forced to reassure investors amid speculation it is preparing to close a wave of stores.
But JD, which has 390 outlets in the UK and Ireland and nearly 2,200 sports and fashion shops worldwide, has managed to buck the trend.
Executive chairman Cowgill said its success was due to “staying focused” on what customers wanted.
It claims to have the edge on rivals with the latest trainer designs, including many which are exclusive.
Cowgill said the “often social nature of consumers’ shopping trips”, combined with the “impulsive nature of their buying decisions”, meant its stores were still important.
Shops also helped with “brand awareness” and people’s “desire to see, handle and try the product,” he added.
Cowgill told the Mirror: “It isn’t our intention to reduce the number of stores.”
He insisted the high street “isn’t dead because of the number of people we get through our doors”.
However, he called on action to reduce the cost of business rates.
The group’s profits increased by 19% to £122million in the six months to the end of July.
JD’s camping and hiking chains, Blacks and Go Outdoors, endured a more mixed six months which it blamed on the weather.
But the group’s results included a boost from US chain Finish Line, which it bought in June for £428million.
The firm is trialling its JD format in the US as part of a global push. It opened 39 stores abroad in the six-month period.