Viral fitness brand Gymshark continues to go from strength to strength as they are now set to open a brand-new shop at The Trafford Centre next year.
One of the most well-known gym-wear brands on the planet right now, the company started by a student in the confines of his garage and bedroom back in 2012 is now opening just their third-ever brick-and-mortar location in the ever-busy shopping mall as their ‘IRL’ presence grows.
While it began as an online-only brand and will remain one of the most popular digital retailers for athletic apparel, with more than 10 million customers and a following of nearly double that amount on social media, it’s a pretty safe bet this store will be a welcome addition to The Trafford Centre.
Scheduled for a summer 2025 opening, this will be Gymshark‘s first location in the North so, naturally, they simply had to pick Manchester.
Gymshark Women is its own sub-brand.A glimpse at one of their two existing London locations.(Credit: Supplied)
Set to open a 7,500-square-foot unit on Upper Peel Avenue, the new Gymshark site will become home to all of their high-quality activewear, featuring a vast range of sizes, colours and styles to suit all.
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There is also set to be a number of exclusives available only at the Gymshark Trafford Centre.
Building on an already strong and long-standing relationship with the city – with Manchester hosting one of the first-ever community meet-ups in the city during their early days and greeting thousands of gymgoers to Manchester Central in 2023 at its first post-Covid event, Lift MCR – it’s a natural marriage.
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Having also recently opened a small space in Selfridges in Trafford Centre to great acclaim, General Manager of Wholesale and Retail, Hannah Mercer, says: “We’re a Brummie brand, but we look to Manchester as something of a big brother with its heritage for graft, discipline and authenticity.
She goes on to add: “It’s why we’ve had so many wonderful moments in the city […] whenever we’ve landed here, it’s been incredible. We’ve also done so much in Manchester because we know how passionate the community here is about the gym and fitness […] In short, we love Manchester and can’t wait to open our doors to our Northern community next year.”
When taking into account their ever-growing workforce and group of influencers and/or sponsored athletes, not to mention they now reach a total of 230 countries, it’s fair to say this will be a very popular arrival to the nearby shopping complex.
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Simon Layton, Centre Director at Trafford Centre, said of the announcement:“Gymshark is an impressive British success story with a global following, so we’re excited to welcome their first Northern, standalone store right here at Trafford Centre.
“With the activewear and athleisure market continuing to thrive, we’re confident that Gymshark will prove to be extremely popular with our visitors.”
As founder Ben Francis reiterates with every evolution of the company, “Gymshark isn’t a sports brand or an athleisure brand, it’s a gym brand. [It] prides itself on being the brand for creating the tools to help everyone achieve their very best in the gym, not just from the clothing it sells, but from the community it has built around it.”
Sephora’s arrival in Manchester last year triggered huge queues of shoppers eager to browse the retailer’s collection of exclusive, viral and classic beauty products.
This will be the 10th UK store for the brand, with more to come in Sheffield and Liverpool in 2025.
Inside Sephora, shoppers are able to browse in-person for brands that are often hard to come by in the UK, including exclusive-to-Sephora brands like Makeup by Mario, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, and Topicals, plus Glossier and Selena Gomez’s Rare beauty.
The store is also famed for its huge selection of ‘minis’, allowing beauty enthusiasts to try out the hottest products on the market for less.
Sephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc GroupSephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group
There’ll be a Beauty Hub in store, offering full glam, facials, hair styling, and brows by Benefit Cosmetics.
Sarah Boyd, Managing Director, Sephora UK, said: “Manchester showed us phenomenal support when we opened our first store in the region, which blew away all our expectations.
“We are thrilled bringing a second beauty playground to our customers in this vibrant and culturally rich city, allowing us to reach even more shoppers with a city centre location at Arndale.
“We already know there is strong appetite from beauty enthusiasts in Manchester as we saw over 2000 eager customers queue on our opening day last year, and we look forward to recreating the same energy at Arndale and to continue providing an unparalleled beauty experience like no other.”
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers
Emily Sergeant
Tesco has started trialling personalised Clubcard offers which give customers tailored prices based on their purchases.
The supermarket‘s Clubcard loyalty scheme has more than 20 million people signed-up nationwide, making it one of the most popular of its kind on the market, by far – but over the coming weeks, prices could begin to get cheaper for some than they already are as part of the new ‘Your Clubcard Prices’ scheme being trialled.
The scheme, which is being launched nationwide to a select group of people, will see shoppers sent new personalised offers every Wednesday, on top of all other existing deals.
These will be sent via the Tesco Clubcard app, and added automatically at the checkout.
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers / Credit: The Manc Group
At this moment in time, it’s believed to be unclear how many people are a part of the trial, and also how long the trial will last for.
What we do know, however, is that customers will be able to use their personalised offers multiple times for a total of seven days in larger Tesco stores, but at present, they unfortunately can’t be used in Express locations.
“We are constantly looking for ways to make Clubcard work harder for our customers,” a Tesco spokesperson explained.
“We are currently offering Your Clubcard Prices to a trial group of our Clubcard members, giving them offers on products they regularly buy at Tesco, in addition to the thousands of Clubcard Prices available to all Clubcard members each week.”
The news that Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard offers comes after the retailer was advised by leading consumer watchdog, Which?, last February to make prices clearer for customers.
Danny Jones -
30th September 2024 
