{"id":23452,"date":"2023-07-03T13:36:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T13:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/?p=23452"},"modified":"2023-07-03T13:36:56","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T13:36:56","slug":"jd-sports-stores-in-mena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/2023\/07\/03\/jd-sports-stores-in-mena\/","title":{"rendered":"JD Sports to open 50 stores in Mena"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- VideographyWP Plugin Message: Automatic video embedding prevented by plugin options. --><br \/>\n<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">British sportswear giant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jdsports.co.uk\/page\/mens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JD Sports<\/a> is going to launch 50 stores by 2028 in the Mena region through a franchise agreement with Dubai-based retailer GMG.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The openings align with the company\u2019s plans to open 200-300 stores every year over the next five years, a stock market statement said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">CEO of JD, Regis Schultz, who has previously worked with Dubai conglomerate Al Futtaim Group\u2019s retail division, said the deal was JD\u2019s first franchise agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cWe are very pleased to be delivering this historic deal, the first franchise agreement JD has entered, in partnership with GMG,\u201d said Mr Schultz.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;Through my own career, I have seen first-hand the massive untapped potential for retailers in the Middle East, and I am certain that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/2023\/03\/13\/gmg-unveils-egypt-expansion-plan\/\">GMG<\/a> \u2013 with their expansive retail expertise and a local understanding of the customer \u2013 are the best partners for us in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">JD Sports said in its LSE statement that the region has recently seen a heightened focus on health and wellness, which has driven strong growth in the athletic leisure market in the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Deputy chairman and CEO of GMG, Mohammad A Baker, said: \u201cThis alliance is a testament to our commitment to enhancing the lives of consumers in the region, as we embark on a journey to provide them with unmatched choices and empower their active lifestyles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">GMG has interests in the Mena and Asia and distributes sportswear brands including Adidas, Speedo and Wilson.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It also operates its own sports retail brand Sun, Sand &amp; Sports, as well as supermarket retailers Geant and Aswaaq, and has health and beauty, properties and logistics divisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sportswear retailer JD Sports is set to launch 50 stores by 2028 Mena region through an agreement with GMG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":23453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4053,4321],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23452"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23455,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23452\/revisions\/23455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}