New havens of wellness and active lifestyle
Actress Andi Eigenmann checking out the new Athlete’s Foot store in Rockwell. Released
MANILA, Philippines — To celebrate the Wellness Month this July, two sportswear stores have opened, offering more choices to those into active lifestyle.
Two-time Most Valuable Player of the Philippine Basketball Association Willie Miller has Athlete’s Foot fever, that is, he is very fond of buying his footwear at the newly-rebranded lifestyle store.
“I always have a hard time finding shoes my size. Good thing the store always has available sizes. It’s very convenient,” says Miller.
The 270-square meter flagship store recently opened at the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell to offer a wide selection of trendy, athletic footwear and apparel geared toward the active, digitally minded, globally-oriented, and fashion-aware customer.
“We have rebranded ourselves into a lifestyle concept. Along with the rebranding also came a different type of consumer. Rebranding is very relevant to the market nowadays because a lot of people are into fashion,” says Miguel Patrick Punsalan, the store chain’s assistant brand manager.
The flagship store carries some of the world’s top and most renowned brands, such as new four colorways of Adidas NMD R2, one of the most coveted sneakers over the past year, as well as the new Nike Air Zoom Mariah, and many others.
The 16 specialty stores, on the other hand, offer a hybrid of performance and lifestyle products that stay up-to-date with the market’s interests such as Rastaclat, Crep Protect and Garmin, among others.
Another store will open in Vertis Mall in September or October and a big one will be in Alabang Town Center soon. The Glorietta 4 store will also be relocated to Glorietta 2 for a bigger space.
The 270-square meter flagship store recently opened at the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell to offer a wide selection of trendy, athletic footwear and apparel geared toward the active, digitally minded, globally-oriented, and fashion-aware customer. Released
Meanwhile, one of the biggest sports retailers in the world, Decathlon, opened its first store in the Philippines at Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
The Manila store is the brand’s 16th in Southeast Asia and the latest addition to its more than 1,200 stores in over 30 countries.
The 3,000-square meter store has a basketball court and sports playground outside the store and a tennis and badminton court, and a skateboarding, rollerblading, and biking area inside.
“The store was designed to enhance customers’ experience, inviting them in to touch, feel and see the quality of our products, the latest innovations, while discovering new sports,” says the brand’s Country Manager and Chief Executive Officer Hans Iff.
Besides Filipinos’ favorite sports such as basketball, football, volleyball, and badminton, the store also carries equipment and gear for over 70 sports, including rollerblading, dance, and fishing. It also plans to include local sports like arnis and sipa.
Established by entrepreneur Michel Leclerq in 1976 in Lille, France, the brand has become a retail giant with its concept of “sports leaders.” The staff actually practices the sport that they are assigned to so they are able to recommend products according to each customer and decide on the inventory and type of products sold for the sport assigned to them.
“We believe that the best way to serve people passionate or who want to be passionate about a certain sport is to be passionate ourselves. That’s why when someone applies to be a sports leader, it’s required for them to be knowledgeable about and to enjoy the sport,” adds Iff.
Every store carries 40 in-house, consumer-focused brands such as Kalenji for running, Quechua for camping and hiking, Nabaiji for swimming and aqua sports, and Geonaute for watches and sports electronics. Representing different sports, the Passion Brands are conceptualized, researched, designed, developed, and tested by experts who really practice the sport.
“With more interest in sports and a younger, more health and wellness-conscious population, the business environment in the Philippines seems like a very good place to invest in. We’re very positive that the concept will be well-received here,” ends Iff.
