JD Sports: Retail giant with Manchester HQ announces closure of 50 stores

Confirming the news, the high street retailer, which has its headquarters in Bury, said the shake-up is expected to include 150 new openings and 100 relocation's and conversions. JD Sports has 4,800 stores across 36 countries, including 412 in the UK.

The closures are not expected to impact the UK with the JD Sports noting that the move will mainly affect branches in Eastern Europe. The statement, released on April 9 concerning Quarter 4, read: “We anticipate c.150 new stores and c.100 conversions/relocations in the year. There will also be c.50 closures, mainly in Eastern Europe”.

The retailer also warned of "volatile" trading conditions in the year ahead as it continues to face "challenging" markets. However, it noted that its profits and sales were had meet forecasts for the past year, but shares in the company have dropped in recent weeks.

The statement continued: "We expect the trading environment in our key markets to be volatile throughout the year and we have started the year in line with our expectations. We note the proposed changes to tariffs announced last week. At this stage, the outcome of these developments is uncertain.

"We are in regular dialogue with our brand partners but it is too early to comment on the potential sector impact." On the trading update, JD Sports CEO Régis Schultz said: “We have delivered a solid performance in a challenging market, with organic revenue growth of 5.8% for the year. This reflects the continued strength of our multi-channel consumer proposition and our growing international footprint.

“We remain focused on profitable growth and maintaining trading discipline, despite an environment that remains promotional and unpredictable in key markets. As we enter FY26, we do so with momentum in our core regions and a clear plan to unlock further scale and efficiency across the business.”

Background

The company was established by John Wardle and David Makin (hence the name JD), trading from a single shop in Bury in 1981. The company opened a store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester in 1983. Pentland Group bought Wardle's and Makin's shares for £44.6M in May 2005, so acquiring 45 per cent of the business.