Sportswear retailer kicks off Birmingham and Watford openings

Footasylum has opened two new stores at Birmingham’s Bullring and Atria in Watford, as it continues its UK expansion.

In Birmingham, the retailer has upsized from its former 2,500 sq ft unit at the Bullring, moving into an 11,000 sq ft unit previously occupied by New Look.

The store is the brand’s latest to utilise its new design concept which was debuted at Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock earlier this year. The concept was then applied to Footasylum’s flagship store on London’s Oxford Street.

In Watford, the retailer has opened a 6,000 sq ft store, a smaller version of its Oxford Street flagship.

Bolstered by an acquisition by asset management Aurelius in August 2022, Footasylum is opening more stores across the UK, with an upsized store in Leicester’s Fosse Park due to launch in November.

Barry Bown, executive chairman and chief executive of Footasylum, said: “2023 has been a transformational year for Footasylum, and these latest openings are further testament to our team’s amazing ability to deliver state-of-the-art stores for our customers across the country.

“They take our tally for 2023 to six openings or upsizings, with more to come next year. Our expansion strategy has seen us enter a number of prime locations across the UK including Oxford Street, Europe’s most popular shopping destination, where our 20,000 square feet flagship store is performing strongly since it opened in September.”