Sports Direct ‘has returned JJB shops’
SPORTS Direct has returned most of the 20 JJB stores it acquired from KPMG last year to the administrators.
According to a report in PropertyWeek.com Sports Direct has failed to renegotiate lease terms with the landlords of 14 of the stores, or decided they were not suitable for its own brand. They have now been closed.
Sports Direct agreed a £24m deal with KPMG in October to buy the JJB brand, all the remaining stock, the website, and to take 20 stores on a licence. The deal came after JJB collapsed into administration in September.
Sports Direct reopened the stores and moved all the stock to those units, where it conducted massive sales. The retailer said the stores would trade until the stock was sold, and they would then be converted to Sports Direct units.
It is understood Sports Direct is still in negotiations on the remaining six stores, but sources in the market indicated that many of these were also likely to be returned.
