Page 54 - Sep-Oct 2021

Giordano, Mirdif City
Center, Dubai, UAE

planning on opening hundreds of new locations to drive its next phase of growth. Just a month after the brand confidently filed for an initial
public offering, Warby Parker has said that it intends to open around three dozen physical locations this year alone. This would bring the brand’s
store fleet up to 160 and would just be the start of a much more significant bricks-and-mortar expansion. Their commitment to opening new
stores across the country is a move that Warby Parker hope will unlock the next stage of its growth in the US.
Frasers Group, previously and more commonly known as Sports Direct is targeting a major European push as it looks to expand across the
continent. The brand, which already has stores in Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Ireland and the Baltic states, intends to open flagship stores in all
capital cities in Europe as part of a five-year plan to elevate its international status. The European expansion announcement comes following the
brand’s £10M upgrade of its 50,000sq ft London flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. A further part of the expansion will be to increase
the brands appeal to its main partners such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.
It is not just retailers that are in expansion mode, leisure operators are also growing their portfolio’s, with Singapore getting a sweet pandemic
distraction as Museum of Ice Cream opens. A first international outlet for the company, the site features many interactive exhibits such as free-
flow ice cream and a children’s ball pool filled with plastic multi-coloured ice cream sprinkles. The Museum of Ice Cream said it planned to expand
to more locations soon, and indeed their next site had opened in Austin, Texas by the end of August.
Closer to home for RLI was the recent expansion of Flight Club into Leeds, in fact our Publisher Jayne Rafter and Event Coordinator Jess Milne
were at the event as the new site in the Old Shooters Bar building on Park Row opened its doors. Work started on adapting the site almost three
years ago, but the opening was delayed, like so much else, by the pandemic. With branches already open in London and Manchester, more sites
in the UK and abroad are on the horizon for this new entertainment concept.

Foot Locker, Orchard Gateway, Singapore