JJB acquires Original Shoe

Sportswear retailer JJB Sports unveiled a £5m (€7m) deal with rival Sports Direct for ownership of the Original Shoe Company today.

JJB will take on 60 Original Shoe stores, which are mainly based on high streets in the north of England and Scotland. The business sells a range of branded lifestyle clothing and footwear, including the brands Henri Lloyd, adidas Originals and Timberland.

The move by Wigan-based JJB is part of a drive to cut its reliance on major football tournaments. JD Sports owner John David Group, which is less dependent on replica kit business, has outperformed its rivals recently after benefiting from higher levels of fashion-led business.

JJB said this year it wanted to increase its proportion of “own brand products”, in addition to existing labels such as Olympus, Patrick and Lotto.

The company is now under new management after the departure of founder David Whelan earlier this year.

Chief executive Chris Ronnie said: “The aspirational and lifestyle end of the market, within which the Original Shoe Company operates, offers us opportunities and will allow us to access new customers and compete more effectively with other players in this area, such as JD, without diluting JJB’s strategy of being ”Serious about Sport.“

JJB said it would run the operation as a separate division of JJB, although it will share its buying, financing and marketing functions.

Sports Direct owns a number of stores trading under other fascias, mainly Gilesports, Hargreaves, Lillywhites and Streetwise. It did not disclose the reasons for the sale today.

However, the move comes a day before Sports Direct is due to present half-year results to the City.