Footasylum opens new store, has big plans for 2023

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 6, 2022

The headlines surrounding Footasylum of late have largely been about its on-again, off-again purchase by JD Sports and eventual cancellation of that deal. 

But now it’s under the ownership of Aurelius Group (which acquired it during August), it has big plans for 2023 and has just opened a new store.

The store in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire is its first new opening since April 2021 and its first under Aurelius.

The new 6,000 sq ft space is located in the Brookfield Shopping Park and brings Footasylum’s total number of stores to 60. 

The company also said that the “business continues to go from strength to strength under new ownership, having traded its way extremely resiliently through the pandemic”. 

It recently announced annual revenue growth of 21% to £281 million for the year ended 29 January, with gross profit up 26% to £132.6 million. Physical stores accounted for 51% of the revenue, with online sales representing 46% and wholesale accounting for 3%. 

It has “a strong pipeline of new openings planned for 2023, and is currently seeing strong demand both in its stores and online in the build up to Christmas”.

Executive chairman and CEO Barry Brown said: “We’re delighted to be opening our 60th store at a fantastic site in Cheshunt near the A10 corridor into London. This should be taken as a clear sign of how strongly the business is trading due to the ongoing demand for our brands. As we look ahead to 2023, we have exciting plans for further expansion and are confident that we can continue to grow at pace despite the current macroeconomic uncertainty.”