A FORMER BHS store is to be given a new lease of life by a huge fashion giant after being left empty for years.
The Frasers Group, which owns the Sports Direct brand, is to open a new branch of sportswear shop in The Precinct in Coventry.
GettySports Direct is to open a new branch in Coventry, taking over a former BHS store[/caption]
The firm, owned by businessman Mike Ashley, said the 30,000 square feet site will open in Spring, but an exact date is yet to be decided.
As well as selling well-known sports brands like Reebok, it will also stock other Frasers brands like USC, Game and Belong.
Sports Direct will move into the site that was previously occupied by BHS.
The beloved British chain collapsed into administration in 2016 and all of its 160 stores, including the Coventry branch, were forced to close.
The store has remained vacant ever since.
Locals have come out to heap praise on the move by the Frasers Group, taking to social media to share their excitement
One Facebook user said: “How exciting, what an improvement it will make!”
Another wrote: “The centre needs these big brands shoppers to get it buzzing with shoppers.”
It comes after Sports Direct closed its shop in the Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, on January 21.
The site will reportedly reopen as an Iceland Food Warehouse, although a date for when has not yet been revealed.
Is the Frasers Group opening more branches?
It comes as the Frasers Group looks to expand and diversify its portfolio, as it opens new “concept stores” across the UK.
The first store of this kind, featuring popular brands like Sports Direct and Game, opened in Norwich last September.
And two others have opened in Blackpool and Sheffield in recent months.
Plus, M&S is set to take over a former M&S store in Liverpool’s famous Church Street.
M&S vacated the Grade II-listed Compton House building last August, taking on a unit site in the city’s nearby One Shopping Centre.
That’s not all. In December, the Frasers Group also snapped up luxury clothing retailer Matches Fashion in a deal worth £52million.
But it’s not been all good news as the group has been closing branches as well.
t shut its Sports Direct branch in Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, on January 21, according to local news reports, with plans to open another branch in the city centre.
The group said it would close its Swindon branch in early 2024 too, but did not confirm an exact date.
Meanwhile, it also launched a giant closing down sale before shutting a Sports Direct branch in Blackpool in November.
And Sports Direct Fitness shut a site in Salisbury for good on December 11 to the shock of members.
Game, also owned by the Frasers Group, will have also shuttered three branches in Exeter, Witney and Huntingdon by the end of January.
And in October, House of Fraser confirmed it will close its branch in Lakeside Shopping Centre, Grays, in January.
It closed three stores in 2023, including in Cardiff, Guildford and Birmingham.
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