UK-headquartered sportswear retailer JD Sports has reopened the doors of its Nancy Houdemont store in North East France following an extensive refurbishment project, which included the acquisition and upgrade of an adjacent unit.
The 300 sqm fit out project – located within the CORA shopping mall – was designed to bring the store in line with JD Sports’ global identity, while creating additional floorspace to stock clothing and equipment from leading brands such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok.
Parisian construction company, Agilité Solutions, managed the delivery of the end-to-end project, with the firm’s project executive and country manager (Italy), Maria Luisa Daglia, at the helm of the refurb.
Milan-based Maria Luisa is no stranger to JD Sports, having overseen the fit-out of no less than 20 stores across the continent – and has previously worked for brands such as Five Guys, Victoria’s Secret and Nike.
With a strict design guide to follow – and all logos and graphics supplied by Innovate Signs in Hampshire, England – Agilité Solutions worked alongside the retailer’s preferred subcontractor, DIME Project, on crucial elements of the project. This included the shopfront, to ensure the fascia, lightboxes and roller shutter remained consistent with the retailer’s worldwide outlets.
Maria Luisa Daglia said: “It is a pleasure to be working with JD Sports again. While we have a long history together, it is the first time the brand has worked with Agilité Solutions – meaning it has been an exciting opportunity for the organisation.
“Agilité has a proven ability to work within strict, international brand guidelines, while offering a consistent delivery. I hope this project gives us the opportunity to work with JD Sports more in the future.”
Jean-Francois Henry, project manager (southern Europe) at JD Sports, added: “It was reassuring for the JD Sports project team to have Agilité Solutions – and Maria Luisa Daglia as a skilled project leader – on board to execute this project. The team has a good understanding of our brand expectations, and their proven experience of demanding retail fit out projects – with tight turnaround time – was key, especially in a challenging period with all the COVID-19 challenges in the construction business.”
While work on site was forced to halt for two months, with 24 hours’ notice, as a result of Europe’s COVID-19 response, Agilité Solutions also stepped in to ensure the security of the site and that vital deliveries remained uninterrupted – organising warehousing for shopfitting infrastructure at short-notice.
Headquartered in Bury, Greater Manchester, JD Sports was launched as a single store in 1983, and now has shops throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia – employing over 30,000 people.