JD Sports

History

The company was established by John Wardle and David Makin (hence the name JD), trading from a single shop in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The company opened a store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester in 1983. Pentland Group bought Wardle's and Makin's shares for £44.6M in May 2005, so acquiring 45% of the business.

Acquisitions

Early acquisitions of stores included 209 stores with the acquisition of First Sport from Blacks Leisure Group in December 2001 and 70 stores from the administrators of Allsports in October 2005. Subsequent acquisitions of businesses included:

• Bank Stores, which sold fashion clothing, for around £19M in December 2007
• Champion Sports for €19.6M in January 2011
• Blacks Leisure Group out of administration for £20 million in January 2012
• the streetwear clothing brand, FLY53, in February 2012
• the brand Tessuti in 2016, later acquired by the Frasers Group in 2022.
• Cloggs, a shoe retailer, out of administration, in February 2013
• part ownership of the Leeds-based trainer retailer, The Hip Store, in May 2014
• Clothingsites.co.uk with its websites, Woodhouse Clothing and Brown Bag Clothing in September 2016
• Go Outdoors for £112 million in November 2016
• the US-based retailer, Finish Line for $558 million in March 2018
• the retailer, Footasylum, for £90 million in March 2019
• Shoe Palace for $325 million in December 2020
• DTLR for $360 million in March 2021
• a majority stake in the online fashion retailer Missy Empire in June 2021
• a majority stake in the Spanish online sports equipment retailer Deporvillage in June 2021
• an 80% stake in the Greek sporting goods retailer Cosmos Sport in June 2021
• the minority stake it did not already own in Polish retailer Marketing Investment Group (MIG) in August 2023
• the French company Courir in September 2023
• the French company Gap in September 2023
• the Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG) in October 2023
• Hibbett Inc for $1.08 billion in April 2024 In addition, the company acquired the rugby heritage brands 'Canterbury' and 'Canterbury of New Zealand' as well as 'The Duffer of St. George' and 'Kooga Rugby' brands.

International operations

The company acquired Chausport, which operated 75 small stores in France, in May 2009. It opened its first store in Malaysia in January 2016. The company acquired an 80% stake in the Australian retailer Next Athleisure for A$6.6 million in late 2016. This was followed by the opening of more stores in Australia in April 2017, in South Korea in April 2018, in Singapore in May 2018 and in Thailand in November 2018. The company also acquired 80% of Cosmos Sport, based in Crete, in December 2021 and has launched a joint venture with Erajaya Swasembada in Indonesia with a store opened in 2022. In August 2023, it was announced JD Sports had acquired the remaining 40% of shares in the Krakow-headquartered footwear and clothing retail chain, Marketing Investment Group. JD Sports acquired the first 60% in April 2021. JD Sports opened its first store in Poland in December 2021. In December 2023, Sports Unlimited Retail, JD Sports' Dutch subsidiary, was declared bankrupt.

Sponsorship

In 2017, JD Sports were selected to sponsor the Cymru Premier and the Welsh Cup in Wales. They are also an official supplier and sponsor of association football teams, players, and associations. In August 2008, JD Sports announced sponsorship deals with AFC Bournemouth, Charlton Athletic, Dundee United, Blackpool, Luton Town & Oldham Athletic.

Controversies

Mistreatment of staff

The company has been the subject of accusations of mistreatment of its UK warehouse staff, with comparisons being made to Victorian "dark satanic mills" and "prison" conditions in 2016 and 2019.

Go Outdoors

The company pushed its subsidiary, Go Outdoors, into administration in June 2020. It then bought it back from administrators with the creditors losing much of their money.

Alleged breaches of competition law

The company along with Leicester City were placed under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) due to alleged breaches in competition law in September 2021. The investigation was in regard to anti-competitive agreements over the sale of club branded merchandise in the UK. Both JD Sports and Leicester City said they were 'fully cooperating' with the CMA.

Covert meetings between the Chief Executive Officers of JD Sports and Footasylum

After the company acquired Footasylum in March 2019, the CMA carried out an investigation and then, on the basis that the company's ownership of Footasylum might limit competition, ordered the company to dispose of Footasylum. The company and, its subsidiary, Footasylum, were fined a combined £4.7 million after the CEO of JD Sports, Peter Cowgill, allegedly met covertly with the CEO of Footasylum, Barry Bown, on two occasions in July and August 2021 in breach of an order from the CMA not to exchange commercially sensitive information without CMA consent. One of the meetings was alleged to have taken place in a car park in Bury, Greater Manchester.

References

References

1. "Annual Report 2025". JD Sports.
2. "JD Sports Total Number of Stores".
3. "New distribution warehouse, Rochdale".
4. (12 December 2019). "Pentland sells £177m stake in JD Sports". Drapers Online.
5. Stevenson, Rachel. (7 July 2004). "JD Sports founder sells 11per cent stake to firm behind Speedo". The Daily Telegraph.
6. (5 November 2007). "JD Sports founders sell out for £44.6m". Times Online.
7. Finch, Julia. (12 May 2005). "JD Sports founders cash in and quit with £45m". [[The Guardian]].
8. (2006). "The Marketing of Sport". Financial Times International.
9. (11 December 2007). "John David Group makes a Bank statement". Yorkshire Post.
10. (26 January 2011). "JD Sports set to acquire Champion Sports for €20m". Irish Examiner.
11. (9 January 2012). "Blacks Leisure sold for £20m while La Senza finds buyer". BBC News.
12. (15 February 2012). "JD Sports acquires FLY53". Insider Media Limited.
13. (16 June 2012). "JD's Tessuti deal spells the end for Cecil Gee". Drapers on line.
14. (15 February 2013). "JD Sports Fashion acquires Cloggs". Manchester Evening News.
15. Bearne, Suzanne. (13 May 2014). "JD Sports Fashion invests in Leeds indie The Hip Store".
16. "Men's Designer Clothes, Shoes & Accessories | Woodhouse". Woodhouseclothing.com.
17. (27 January 2016). "Brown Bag Clothing | Men's Cheap Designer Clothing". Bbclothing.co.uk.
18. (11 April 2017). "Final Results â€" Company Announcement". Markets.ft.com.
19. (28 November 2016). "Britain's JD Sports buys Go Outdoors for 112 million pounds". Reuters.
20. Al-Muslim, Aisha. (26 March 2018). "UK Retailer JD Sports Fashion to Buy Finish Line for About $558 Million". Wall Street Journal.
21. Costello, Miles. (26 March 2018). "JD Sports hits the ground running with Finish Line takeover deal". [[The Times]].
22. (4 November 2021). "JD Sports expresses fury over CMA's final ruling to sell Footasylum". Retail Gazette.
23. (15 December 2020). "JD Sports buys Shoe Palace for $325 million to expand U.S. footprint". Reuters.
24. Retail Gazette. (18 March 2021). "JJD Sports completes £360m acquisition of DTLR". RetailGazette.
25. (25 June 2021). "JD Sports now has a majority stake in Missy Empire".
26. (28 June 2021). "JD Sports acquires Deporvillage in Spain for £120m".
27. (22 October 2021). "JD Sports buys 80% stake in Greece's Cosmos Sport".
28. (8 August 2023). "JD Sports ramps up European expansion".
29. (8 August 2023). "JD Sports to become sole owner of Polish retailer MIG".
30. (21 September 2023). "JD Sports Fashion conclut l'accord de rachat du français Courir".
31. (21 September 2023). "Rachat de Courir et de Gap : le britannique JD Sports confirme ses ambitions sur le marché français".
32. (21 September 2023). "Le géant britannique JD Sports rachète Courir et Gap pour 520 millions d'euros".
33. (21 September 2023). "Le britannique JD Sports s'offre le français Courir, après avoir racheté Gap France".
34. (11 October 2023). "JD Sports completes acquisition of ISRG".
35. (11 October 2023). "JD Sports Make Splash With Spanish Acquisition".
36. (23 April 2024). "JD Sports to buy US rival Hibbett for $1.08 billion".
37. "History". jdplc.com.
38. Su, Reon. (28 January 2016). "JD Sports Fashion opens its first Malaysian outlet".
39. Dagge, John. (6 July 2018). "'King of trainers' JD Sports eye Perth market".
40. Powell, Dominic. (26 April 2017). "JD Sports looks to unlock "athleisure" niche with Aussie store launch tomorrow".
41. (26 March 2018). "JD Sports to open first store in South Korea". Yonhap News Agency.
42. Tan, Dylan. (30 May 2018). "Sneakerheads rejoice, Singapore will have not one but two JD outlets with the first already opened in Jurong".
43. (17 October 2018). "JD Sports to open first store in Thailand at Iconsiam".
44. (22 October 2021). "JD Sports buys 80% stake in Greece's Cosmos Sports". Yahoo Finance.
45. "Erajaya Active Lifestyle Announces A Joint Venture with JD Sports Fashion plc".
46. (2023-08-08). "JD Sports acquires remaining 40% stake in Polish business to accelerate expansion {{!}} TheBusinessDesk.com".
47. a_gracjan. (2021-12-17). "JD Sports otwiera swój pierwszy sklep w Polsce!".
48. Goldfingle, Gemma. (2023-12-07). "JD Sports' Dutch business Sports Unlimited declared bankrupt".
49. (2017-08-09). "JD Sports unveiled as new Welsh Premier league sponsor - Y Clwb Pêl-droed".
50. (6 August 2008). "Oldham Athletic announce JD Sports Carbrini sponsor deal". Football Shirt Culture.
51. (14 December 2016). "'Prison' conditions at JD Sports: undercover investigation". Channel 4 News.
52. (7 May 2019). "JD Sports and Asos warehouses like 'dark satanic mills'". BBC.
53. (9 May 2019). "JD Sports and Asos warehouses compared to 'dark satanic mills' amid concerns over working conditions". The Independent.
54. (21 June 2020). "JD Sports' Go Outdoors brand likely to enter administration in days".
55. (23 June 2020). "JD Sports buys back Go Outdoors after pushing it into administration". Sky News.
56. (30 September 2021). "Suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to the sale of Leicester City FC-branded products and merchandise". Competition and Markets Authority.
57. (30 September 2021). "Leicester City and JD Sports merchandise probe". BBC.
58. Saker-Clarke, Henry. (30 September 2021). "Watchdog launches probe into Leicester City and JD Sports over merchandise". Independent.
59. Hardy, Matt. (30 September 2021). "Leicester City and JD Sports probed by watchdog over merchandise". City AM.
60. (13 December 2021). "JD Sports close to losing ownership of Footasylum". Retail Gazette.
61. (14 February 2022). "Britain fines JD Sports, Footasylum as CEO meetings breach order". Reuters.
62. (14 February 2022). "JD Sports and Footasylum fined £4.7m for secret meetings". Sky News.
63. (14 February 2022). "JD Sports and Footasylum fined £5m for breaching CMA order after covert car park meeting". Retail Gazette.