First Look: Gymshark Store Debuts At Westfield As It Targets New York

Fast growing U.K. gym wear specialist Gymshark may have had to trim its immediate U.S. aspirations amid a refocus earlier this year, but that doesn’t mean founder Ben Francis has given up on his American dream.

As the company which made its reputation with apparel and accessories specifically for what Francis felt was the underrepresented gym goer market opened its second store, he renewed his commitment to opening a first New York store.

Before a permanent store though, there will be a Big Apple pop-up, and options for that are currently being explored.

“We would love one day to open a New York store. Again it’s about finding the right place, but we have announced that we’re going to open a pop-up there which will be open for 12 months and will be in the heart of Manhattan,” Francis said as he took his first look at the retailer’s second store at Westfield Stratford City in London.

The first opened nearly two years ago on Regent Street in the heart of London’s West End and the second is at one of the U.K.’s busiest malls, close to the former 2012 Olympic Stadium which now hosts Premier League soccer club West Ham United.

“Our Regent Street store has performed fantastically well, but I’m learning as an online retailer that when you want to open physical stores, there has to be an element of opportunism about it because, unlike online, availability is not instant,” Francis said.

“When we opened the original store it was a completely new venture for us and we didn’t really know what to expect or whether it would simply be a branding platform. This is our first shopping center location, and obviously the high footfall here and the size and location of the store is what attracted us,” he added.

Gymshark Westfield Store

Francis said that for non-flagship stores he will be typically looking for locations from around 3,500-sq.-ft. to 5,500-sq.ft., with the new Stratford outlet in East London, which opened its doors on July 13, at circa 5,000-sq.-ft. Although there is a strong sportswear presence at the huge mall, Francis stressed that Gymshark was more focused on the high footfall at the center rather than being part of a sports cluster, and also that the space was suitable to create community events.

As part of that, the fixtures roll back to allow demos and activities and some some of the products are exclusive to Stratford.

“We absolutely want to open more stores in the U.K.,” he said. “I’m not going to put a figure on how many because it will largely be dictated by finding the right sites.”

Francis built his business from his family home in Solihull in England’s West Midlands after becoming a huge gym fan and when American investor General Atlantic paid $300 million for a 21% stake in Gymshark in 2020, the deal confirmed Gymshark’s unicorn status and catapulted Francis to billionaire status.

With an online presence in 230 markets, in 2022 the company launched a U.S. office in Denver as part of a clearly stated desire to establish a serious presence in America. Gymshark generates around 80% of its income overseas, with the U.S. contributing well over $300 million.

But facing headwinds, the business reduced its administrative headcount by 170 people, including 80 as part of a major retrenchment from the North American market after it was hit by the ongoing impact of rising inflation, raw materials and labor costs.

Gymshark Global Markets

Gymshark also closed its regional sourcing offices in Hong Kong and Mauritius and the repositioning seems to have worked, with its results for 2023 seeing sales up 15% from 2022 to $720 million, which the retailer said was “underpinned by the relevance and quality of our product” and “the resonance of our brand”.

Despite surging sales, the company’s pre-tax profits fell to just shy of $17 million for the 12 months to July 31 2023, down from $36 million. However, EBITDA, excluding exceptional costs, increased from $51.7 million to $58.7 million, and Gymshark said at the time that it was focused on this metric as a “proxy for underlying trading performance.”

Two stores may not be much for this online heavy lifter but Francis is clearly determined that more physical outlets will follow and that if he keeps the reps up, New York will be his.