Shopping

Inside Sports Direct’s new FIVE STOREY Manchester Arndale store, complete with gaming arena and sports challenges

It's unbelievably massive in here...

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 24th March 2023

Sports Direct has opened its brand-new, high-tech store inside the Manchester Arndale today – and it’s seriously impressive.

The five-storey flagship shop for the sports retailer is packed with interactive features, from fitness challenges to a bra-fitting studio.

The high-tech space has gadgets that will do everything from accurately measuring your foot size to testing your strength.

There’s even a bank of gaming PCs and consoles on the top floor, as a Belong Gaming Arena opens within the new Sports Direct shop.

Here, gamers can buy a single pass or sign up for unlimited play time for £15 a month, grabbing drinks from a slushy machine and snacks from a shop area.

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Sports Direct has taken over what was once the BHS department store within Manchester Arndale, a 50,000 sq ft site that’s been largely empty since 2016. It’s moved across from its previous unit just around the corner.

The display at the entrance. Credit: The Manc Group

Shoppers are immediately greeted by a DJ booth, a mirrored ceiling and rack after rack of sportswear.

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Brands including Adidas, Nike and Puma are all stocked, as expected, alongside other Frasers Group brands like Jack Wills and USC.

Game has a huge presence up on the top floor, where shoppers can also get their clothing purchases customised.

Sports Direct Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group
The bra studio. Credit: The Manc Group
The Belong Gaming Arena. Credit: The Manc Group
A wall of balls. Credit: The Manc Group
The putting challenge. Credit: The Manc Group
Diving mannequins. Credit: The Manc Group
Manchester City kits. Credit: The Manc Group
Another challenge in Sports Direct Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Game. Credit: The Manc Group
PS5s in Sports Direct Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Specialist boxing clothing. Credit: The Manc Group
You can get items customised in store. Credit: The Manc Group
Hockey equipment. Credit: The Manc Group
A strength challenge. Credit: The Manc Group
Jack Wills. Credit: The Manc Group
The women’s floor. Credit: The Manc Group

There’s kit on sale for every sport from hiking to running to skateboarding to hockey to cycling to fishing to boxing to tennis to rugby to golf to swimming, plus a huge astroturfed area dedicated to football.

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In the football zone, you can try on a massive range of football boots while sitting in dugout-inspired seats, with rival mannequins dressed in City and United kits propped up on rotating plinths.

It’s not just about the shopping in here either. Sports Direct has brought a whole load of interactive games and challenges to Manchester.

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You can test your golf skills at a Putting Challenge, flex your footwork at a miniature sit-down football pitch, and show off your upper body strength by doing dead hangs from a bar for as long as possible.

The bra studio features a unique multi-brand bra finder tool, which can suggest the right size and shape for your sport, whatever brand you go for.

Sports Direct’s Chief Executive Michael Murray said: “Manchester is a significant location for the group, and we’re excited to be opening our next flagship in the city.”

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The huge new Sports Direct store in the Manchester Arndale is open now.

Featured image: The Manc Group

Shopping

The Pop Up Club – pop-up shop for independent retailers to return to Manchester this weekend

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

The Pop Up Club is coming back to Manchester city centre this weekend, offering a prime retail space to independent businesses and small creators.

The initiative aims to transform unused public spaces and invite designers, makers and artists along to add cultural and commercial value to the local area.

Through providing this platform for these businesses, The Pop Up Club has managed to help its traders earn £1.5 million across all their previous events which run up and down the UK.

The brilliant pop-up retail space was previously on King Street in Manchester, but this time The Pop Up Club is moving into the Manchester Arndale.

Shoppers will be able to choose from the curated traders on offer, such as beautifully handpainted watercolour illustrations from By Tilly, celestial and nature inspired jewellery by Sian Mellor designs and beaded bracelets from That Wild Feeling.

It’s also helping to promote local talent as it shares the work of Manchester based unique printed homewares from Lydia Meiying.

Moonshine Prints, a trader who creates a variety of fascinating and eclectic wall art for everyone to buy and display in their homes, will also be at The Pop Up Club when it returns to Manchester.

The Pop Up Club will offer a chance to browse local traders who normally wouldn’t have a platform as big as this, while also supporting art and culture direct from the north.

Tillie Peel, creator and founder of The Pop Up Club.
Inside the incredible retail space providing opportunities for small businesses.
Peel, admiring works by small creators which are part of her small business initiative.
Credit: Publicity Pictures

The businesses The Pop Up Club uplifts and works with may be small but the amount of traders definitely isn’t – they’ve shone a spotlight on more than 500 independent retailers since setting up the social enterprise.

It’s also nice to hear that creatives who have worked with them in the past would more than likely consider working with The Pop Up Club again as according to the statistic on their website, ‘100% of traders said they would return’.

The venture was founded by Tillie Peel, who says: “Manchester has always welcomed us with open arms, and the friendly Northern spirit was calling us back once again.

“Utilising an empty space at the Manchester Arndale is a dream come true for us, as it puts us at the heart of shopping in the city and with events such as the Christmas Markets returning, the footfall of the city centre will be highly welcomed by us and all our traders in our Manchester store.

“With over 5 million small businesses in the UK*, there are so many that deserve attention and shopping small can bring huge benefits to the economy as well as supporting local income. This Christmas is the perfect time to shop from small businesses and independent traders, where a purchase can make a real difference to that brand.

“Our network of independent businesses have found being in our stores offers real value, as well as allowing them to speak to customers, see the reactions in real time to their items and to get a taste of what the high street has to offer.”

Shoppers who just can’t wait to get on down to The Pop Up Club can browse the shop in person on 16 November at Manchester Arndale.

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Featured Image: Publicity Picture

Shopping

Viral K-Beauty brand Pureseoul is opening a store at Manchester Arndale

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson PureSeoul is opening a K-Beauty store in Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group

Any skincare enthusiast knows that nowhere makes products quite K-Beauty brands – and now Pureseoul is set to open its first Manchester store.

The viral favourite is set to move into the Manchester Arndale later this month, with shelves packed with Korean skincare and beauty products.

When Pureseoul opened stores elsewhere in the UK, hundreds of fans queued up to get inside from as early as 5am.

That’s partly because of their incredible opening day goodie bags, with the first 200 in the queue in Manchester set to receive more than £300 worth of the store’s most-loved products.

Korean beauty and skincare has been a favourite among beauty gurus for years, but we usually have to buy these cult products online. Now shoppers will be able to browse in person.

Pureseoul is the UK’s leading K-Beauty retailer with shops already open in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Oxford.

Their Manchester store will be their first foray up north, promising to fill the 1,500 sq ft Arndale unit with more than 1,000 iconic Korean beauty and skincare products, plus the latest K-Beauty trends and must-haves.

There’ll be Pureseoul-exclusive brands like Torriden, Rom&nd, Beplain, and AOU just to name a few, in addition to innovative beauty tools.

Shoppers can also enjoy in-store demonstrations and personalised product recommendations from staff.

Gracie Tullio, co-founder and creative director, said: “We are thrilled to announce the opening of our largest store so far, located in the heart of Manchester!

“After working closely with the Arndale team for over a year to find the perfect location, we are excited to welcome more than 2,000 fans on our opening day to join in the celebrations.

“Our Manchester customers have shown incredible support on our social media, making it the most requested city for our next store. We are honoured to create this new space for a community that truly loves Korean Beauty.”

Felicity Loftus, marketing team lead, added: “We’re thrilled to finally bring the IRL K-Beauty experience to the North!

“After the major success of our recent openings, we’re excited to bring back our viral K-Beauty goodie bag for the first 200 in line alongside over 5000 additional goodies for everyone attending on opening day. We can’t wait to welcome and celebrate with our Northern community!”

Pureseoul will open on the first floor of the Manchester Arndale, near River Island and Next, on Wednesday 27 November at 11am.

Goodie bags worth more than £300 will be given out to the first 200 people in the queue.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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