Swansea City to open new club shop in retail centre

SWANSEA City are to open a new store in the city centre to meet rising demand for the club’s footballing merchandise.

The double-fronted store will be in Union Street, near the Quadrant Shopping Centre and Swansea Market, and is expected to open in mid-October.

It will have a sales outlet for tickets and hospitality, and interactive screens, as well as shirts, shorts, socks, and mugs.

The club’s majority American owners are keen to boost commercial revenue to strengthen finances and make the team more competitive, and have set their sights on a city-centre store for a while to complement the Liberty Stadium club shop.

The new Union Street retail space used to be a Rowberry’s shoe store.

Club merchandise is also sold at Debenhams, in the Quadrant.

The Swans’ Premier League matches are broadcast to around 900m viewers in 190 countries.

Swansea City’s chief operating officer, Chris Pearlman, said he believed the Union Street venture would prove popular.

“As the club is an important part of the community, we felt we needed to have a more visible presence in the heart of Swansea,” he said.

“The busy club shop at the Liberty Stadium will remain, but the new city-centre store will also provide another connection point for the club with our supporters.”

The club is also investing in its match-day Jacks Zone, in which fans can mingle and take up promotion and giveaway offers.

Addressing a business audience at a Liberty Stadium event in May, Mr Pearlman said the club was a “financial engine” for the city, but felt that more could be done to maximise its global reach.