Swedish Björn Borg will open new flagship stores in Belgium and the Netherlands sometime this year. It is the next step in its expansion plan after having opened new stores in Bruges, Haarlem and Zwolle.
Transfer to sports brand
For Belgium, Björn Borg wants to open stores in Antwerp, Wijnegem and Ghent and for the Netherlands, it targets Rotterdam, Groningen and Arnhem. Alongside these regular stores, it may also have several outlet stores across both countries.
Björn Borg currently has sixteen stores in the Benelux, but is rapidly expanding. The brand is also transitioning from an underwear brand into a complete sports brand. It has turned out to be a lucrative decision, because its 2016 turnover grew 10 % to 631.6 million Swedish krona (66.9 million euro) and profit reached 4.9 million euro.
The company decided to shut down a majority of its store network, but in the meantime, its founding parent company acquired its former property and relaunched it with a new strategy. Rental prices in the Netherlands have also dropped since 2013, which entices more companies to once again open stores.
