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In the last few months, brands have been rushing to open stores on Avenue des Champs-Elysées, hoping to catch a chunk of tourist wallets, especially the ones coming for the 2024 Olympics. Sports brands are no exception and tend to settle in retail spaces in the avenue’s central and lower sections. England-based retailer JD Sports chose another option and opened its new global flagship store in the avenue's upper section (number 118), across the street from the Louis Vuitton flagship store and not far away from Saint Laurent and Cartier. While the store was opened by Brazilian soccer legend and Nike brand ambassador Ronaldinho in April 2024, the group said it will be “continuing its run as the globally recognised king of the high street. JD’s new store offers the brand's latest innovations in digital technology and merchandising and will provide visitors access to all the hottest brands and latest launches.”

JD Sports was founded in 1981 in Bury, in the North West of England, with one shop, John David Sports. The JD group now accounts for more than 3,300 stores worldwide, including 100 in France and 29 JD Sports stores in the Paris region only. In terms of sales, JD Sports claimed in March 2024 to outperform a challenging market with a 4% like-for-like sales growth in the financial year ending 3 February 2024, reaching £10.5 billion, with an 8% organic growth. The profit before tax is expected to reach £915 million.

The retailer’s new flagship store aims to provide an immersive shopping experience to customers and establish itself as one of the sports champions on Champs-Elysées. Who will be the customers visiting the store? What will they find there to differentiate themselves in the crowded area?

Who is the store made for: JD Sports’ young customer base

According to GlobalData UK, JD Sports’ shopper base predominantly comprises male shoppers (61.3%) due to the retailer’s focus on sportswear and lifestyle brands. JD Sports caters to various customers, from sports enthusiasts and sportswear fans to trendy comfort-wear seekers. While they have been able to attract customers from all income groups, JD Sports aims to appeal to a wide range of customers, especially those between the ages of 13 and 35 who are interested in sportswear and streetwear:

• In 2021, Millennial and Gen Z customers made up 51.6% of JD Sports' UK shopper base: 22% were aged between 18 and 24, compared to 11% for its competitor, Sports Direct.
• 38% were from 40 to 59 years old, compared to 41% for Sports Direct customers.

These shares show that JD Sports cracked the code to attract the younger generation: they embrace all the youth culture codes, not just sportswear. With memorable slogans, eye-catching imagery, and partnerships with well-known athletes and celebrities, the brand’s advertising campaigns and social media channels are clearly focusing on this young demographic. During the store visit, the campaign was about ‘Nouvelle Ere’, translated to ‘New Wave’ as a slogan. Through this five-country campaign (UK, Germany, France, Spain and The Netherlands), JD Sports aims to “cultivate emerging talent from key regions” across the brand’s music, sport, community and youth culture pillars.

JD Sports is considered strong both offline and online as it succeeded in becoming an omnichannel retailer that offers a seamless journey to its young customer base, who live with their phones in hand. They show a great understanding of these customers by focusing on trends, backed up by solid data and insights.

What does the store look like: sportswear retail codes and GenZ flare

The store spans 1,500 sqm. The two-storey store window features mannequins and dynamic screens on the first floor, while sneakers wall displays serve as windows visible from the outside on the ground floor. The leading brands sold in the store have their logos on the ground floor windows: Under Armour, The North Face, EA7, On, Puma, Fila, Reebok, Supply & Demand, Ugg, Crocs, Nike, Adidas, Lacoste, New Balance, Asics, Vans, Converse, Juicy Couture, Hoodrich, Columbia, and McKenzie. Not all brands, such as Fred Perry and Tommy Hilfiger, are mentioned on the windows.

Progressing from the entrance to the back of the floor, the ground floor is mainly dedicated to sneakers and articulates as follows:

• Men’s shoes (90% sneakers),
• Women’s shoes (90% sneakers),
• Socks, caps and lifestyle shoes (Birkenstock, Crocs, for example),
• Cash desks and 3 fitting rooms (which were closed at the time of the visit),
• The back of the floor is split into 2 parts: a soccer section (mainly offering team jerseys) and a teen and kids shoe section.

Not surprisingly, the ground floor was crowded with young customers. Quite empty at the time of the visit, the first floor is dedicated to textiles and displays a product offer well-balanced between sports, streetwear and lifestyle clothes:

• For women, the product offer is mainly oriented towards tracksuits, leggings and athleisure wear, balanced with lifestyle brands such as Juicy Couture.
• For men, the offer seems more streetwear-oriented than performance-oriented. It concentrates on daily-wear branded T-shirts, NBA shirts, and bathing suits. For example, The North Face equally offers technical and lifestyle products.
• A similar balanced offer is available for kids and teens.
• 2 fitting rooms and cash desks are also available on this floor.

With various stone and metal types, JD Sports’ store concept is mainly black and grey, the usual colour codes sports retailers use. Touches of yellow are used to catch the customer's attention, especially for direction purposes. The lighting is only made with neon. To cater to the younger generations (at the time of the visit, most store customers were under 20 years old), the concept includes many screens (on the walls and ceilings) promoting the retailer ad campaigns and customer app and the brands they carry. These screens bring additional touches of colour, making the store more appealing. The screens on the ceilings also serve as transitions between sections. The music, pop and rap hits, is loud.

Store services and key features

The sales staff is very young, reflecting the customer base. They are well-trained, smiling, and systematically greet customers from the store entrance and throughout the journey. They wear uniforms: black JD Sports-labelled t-shirts and cargo pants, as well as yellow badge and phone holders, matching the store concept and making them very visible. During the opening month, the store included features like sneaker customisation and clothing embroidery, showcasing JD Sports' commitment to a personalised shopping experience.

All shoe sections are equipped with small TV screens hanging from the ceiling. When customers ask to try a pair of sneakers, sales associates can scan a QR code on products. Depending on the item's availability, the screen informs the sales associate that the required pair is ready to pick up at a specific counter (each item has a picture, reference, store section and requested size). This allows the sales staff to be fully dedicated to customer service instead of going back and forth in the stock room. Despite the many customers in the store, there were not many to try shoes on. It shows the store might be more of an occasion to socialise and browse products for the younger generation than to shop.

BOPIS options are available in the store. On both floors, through a specific ordering kiosk, customers can access the entire product catalogue, order and pay for their order to be delivered to the store of their choice or at home, and retrieve these orders, as well as click-and-collect orders, at the cash desks. At the time of the visit, customers were not using these kiosks.

There are very few fitting rooms in the store. At the time of the visit, only 2 were open, on the first floor, where ready-to-wear is located and where the traffic was relatively low compared to the busy ground floor. This shows again how the young generations use physical stores for experience and inspiration and e-commerce for ordering. Similarly, the cash desks were not busy with customers.

Finally, the soccer section on the ground floor offers a free FIFA Nintendo PS5 game console for small groups.

Sportswear fans know JD Sports’ “Undisputed King of Trainers” slogan. So will Champs-Elysées. The prestigious avenue is getting ready for the Olympics and will be packed with sports brands. Nike has been there since 2020 with its 4,300 sqm House of Innovation. Adidas' flagship store is currently relocated (and should be improved) from the lower to the mid-section of the avenue, with a 2,800 sqm space. On and Salomon are currently under construction. Lululemon opened last year, and Lacoste has a 1,600 sqm flagship store since 2022. How will JD Sports make a difference in this crowded area? JD Sports’ new location is in the more luxury-oriented part of the avenue compared to the other sports brands settled in the lower part with which they compete. As location can make a difference, in good or in bad, JD Sports is the second multi-brand sports retailer on the avenue, after Foot Locker, located in the lower part of the avenue. With a wider choice of sneaker options and a store designed for teens, JD Sports seems poised to attract more younger customers.

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Credits: IADS (Christine Montard)