Thursday, June 30, 2011

Liverpool FC To Expand Its Retail Empire Into Southport

Liverpool FC is looking to expand its retail empire – but its sights are focused on Southport, rather than Shanghai.

In an exclusive interview with LDP Business magazine, which is published tomorrow, Liverpool FC chief executive Ian Ayre outlined the short-term plans to reach more fans with its retail offer.

The Premier League club currently has five outlets – in Liverpool at Liverpool One, Williamson Square and Anfield, as well as Chester and Belfast.

It has identified a suitable site in Southport and is negotiating terms, while it continues to search for a site in Dublin.

But he remains unconvinced about the merits of opening a standalone Liverpool FC store in a major Asian city.

Mr. Ayre said: “One of the things that a lot of people don’t understand about football retailing is in Liverpool two out of every three people who walk past our store in Liverpool One are probably Liverpool fans to differing degrees.

“There are millions of fans in Asia. But if you put a store in Shanghai, are there enough fans in Shanghai and are they engaged enough? Is there enough appetite for it?

“Other clubs have tried it and I am not convinced, from what I have heard.

“It may be that the online store should be more locally focused, or maybe we will get a concession in a major retailer.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr. Ayre also talks about where he believes the club’s former owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, went wrong – and why the current owners, Fenway Sports Group, are not repeating those mistakes.

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