Castore to open more European stores this year after early success

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 18, 2023

In its relentless drive for international brand awareness, premium UK sportswear producer/retailer Castore has said it’s celebrating its successful expansion — backed by major kit deals in football and motor racing — by growing its presence across Europe.

Having “triumphed within the European market”, there are now plans for more growth throughout 2023.

Castore’s success in major kit deals across major sports is also being supported by growth of its physical retail portfolio in Europe. This includes key European cities across the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, with plans to open more mainline stores over the next 12 months.

Its European roster already includes kit deals for new teams across the continent, including Feyenoord Rotterdam, Athletic Club Bilbao, FC Utrecht, and FC Twente, and Football Association of Ireland, “with more to come in the near future”.

And the brand’s partnership with motor racing — via Oracle Red Bull Racing — “has been integral in solidifying the European presence, specifically in the Netherlands”. Castore became a Team Partner for the 2023 season and will continue to work with the F1 racing team as part of a long-term partnership.

To support the logistics capability of the European expansion, the company opened a distribution centre in Rotterdam in December, situated near two strong industrial clusters, Botlek and Europoort. The 220,000 sq. ft site is designed to service the European market for wholesale, retail, e-commerce and gift-of-kit sales channels, with plenty of room to scale up.

Castore also has numerous key European wholesale accounts under its belt, including Zalando, Intersport, Sprinter, Voetbalshop, Voetbal direct, and 11Teamsport.

Castore co-founder Tom Beahon said: “We’ve put considerable effort into our European expansion, which aligns with our mighty ambitions for Castore to be the world’s number one premium sports brand. Right now, we’re incredibly proud of our efforts to secure numerous EU kit deals, as well as our ongoing partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing and our newly opened Rotterdam distribution centre. We’re determined to continue this expansion and position the brand as a key player in the European market.”