Adidas unveils new "HomeCourt" store concept

Sportswear giant Adidas is looking to replicate a sports stadium experience within its flagships around the world with its new “HomeCourt” retail concept store. Premiering in its largest store, the Adidas Brand Centre in Beijing, China, the concept celebrates the sportswear brands

“authentic sports heritage”, while providing customers with a “unique and interactive retail experience”.

The “HomeCourt” will be rolled out across 24 other locations this year including new stores due to open in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in April and at the UK’s Bluewater shopping centre. The concept will also be used in Adidas’ concession within Harrods in London.

Michael

Stanier, Adidas chief sales officer for consumer direct, said: "Our new retail concept HomeCourt offers a consumer experience unlike any that Adidas fans have enjoyed before. We have created a store where our consumers are at the very heart of the Adidas brand.

“At the Beijing Adidas Brand Centre we have kicked off the next generation of retail concepts which I am very excited about. We look forward to bringing this concept to Adidas fans around the world this year."

Key features of the new concept includes the ‘Arena Facade’ designed to look and feel like a sports stadium to create a “bold, distinctive new look” for Adidas. Consumers will also enter the store through a ‘Tunnel Entry’, which welcomes shoppers with a "sound shower" of cheering fans in a stadium with the aim of drawing them into the “big game” of shopping at Adidas.

Other highlights include the ‘Team Room’, a large fitting area and social space of the store that allows shoppers to try on products whilst being able to interact with the brand. The brands footwear selection is also a focus with the ‘Shoebase’ being placed at the heart of the store and the area includes a shoe bar that features an interactive table with two big touchscreens to help customers find the right product and to connect shoppers directly to Adidas’ online shop.

Adidas to roll out new “HomeCourt” concept in retail drive

Ted Mager, Adidas head of retail environment, added: "HomeCourt gives consumers the opportunity to experience the entire breadth and depth of the Adidas brand. We reference sport in every element in the store from the materials selected to the inspirations of the designs to the tools we use for storytelling."

The concept aim is to strengthen Adidas’ position as a leading retailer globally and to gain back some of its market share that it has lost to Nike, the largest sportswear maker. As well as the new “HomeCourt” concepts, Adidas is also set to open the world’s first Adidas Originals “Neighbourhood” concept store in Berlin this March, as well as expand the presence of its lifestyle label Adidas Neo, which will be opening new stores in Germany, as well as be introduced to the Czech Republic and Poland.

The sportswear giant also confirmed that it’s focusing on the expansion of its own stores in emerging markets such as Russia and the Middle East, where it claims no extensive sporting goods network exists and it wants to make sure consumers can easily find its products as part of its 2014 retail drive. Over the past few years, the Adidas Group has evolved into a significant global retailer, operating more than 2,700 own-retail stores for its Adidas and Reebok brands worldwide.