British sportswear retailer Sports Direct is to change its name to Frasers Group, following the acquisition by its owner Mike Ashley of the House of Fraser chain last year.
Subject to approval
The rebranding is still subject to the approval of the shareholders’ meeting on 16 December, and will according to the retailer itself be carried out in order “to reflect the changing profile and consumer proposition of the group.”
In August last year, Ashley bought the ailing department store chain House of Fraser for 90 million pounds (100 million euros), a decision that the entrepreneur later said might have been a mistake.
Elevation strategy
The choice of the new brand reflects what Sports Direct calls an “elevation strategy”, which covers the entire group. The rebranding follows on from an earlier decision to bring Frasers luxury lifestyle stores to the high street within the next financial year. “The decision to rebrand the group as Frasers reflects the fact that this new, elevated concept will house the core areas of focus for the wider business – iconic brands, beauty, sports and luxury fashion”, as Reuters quotes the chain.
Sports Direct was founded in 1982 by Ashley as one shop in Maidenhead, in the South of England. It now employs 29,400 people in 20 countries and in six business sectors.
