The successful online fitness and apparel brand Gymshark opened the doors to its first physical store on Regent Street last week.
The 18,000 sqft shop located at 165 Regent Street is an experimental space spread across two floors.
While the store will focus on selling merchandise, it has much more to offer customers. Gymshark has said that the store isn’t just about retail shopping, but bringing together a community of people with special events, group hangouts, workout spaces and much more.
Gymshark founder and CEO, Ben Francis said: “I keep having to pinch myself that we have a flagship store on one of the most prestigious streets in the world.
“The team has done an absolutely incredible job creating a store like no other and the experiences are going to be unbelievable.
“But what I’m most excited about, especially after the past couple of years, is that we get to hang out with our amazing community on a daily basis. I cannot wait.”
The store has a modern, innovative design with activewear displayed in joint clothing areas for men and women, shelves of garments in all sizes, adjustable lighting in the changing rooms, HD screen-detail everywhere, a weight themed photo wall, a lifting area complete with a PT service, studio workouts, a sweat room filled with equipment and a designated area for one-to-one shopping.
The space also doubles up as a stage for exciting events for its community. The Hub, found on the first floor, is a multi-use space for guest speakers, events, athlete meet and greets, inspiring talks and hot-desking for those working from home.
A JOE & THE JUICE bar can also be found in store for customers in need of healthy refreshments.
The store opening comes at a time of great uncertainty for high street stores, as the cost-of-living crisis seems to be dissuading shoppers from heading into shops.
In the UK, highstreet footfall fell by 13% in the last quarter against pre-pandemic levels with many consumers still choosing to shop online or limit their discretionary spending.
However, Gymshark which is thought to be worth £1.2billion, is here to stay on our high street, having agreed to a 10-year lease on the building, formerly home to J-Crew.
The company said: “Despite many forecasting the death of the high street and bricks & mortar in retail, we don’t buy into that. We’re bullish on its future and we are determined to prove it.”
Featured image credit: Ruby Smith
