South Africa's TFG signs franchise agreement with JD Sports Fashion

JD Sports is a sports fashion retailer of branded sports and casual wear, combining globally recognised brands like Nike, adidas, Puma and The North Face, with private labels like Pink Soda and Supply & Demand.

"This partnership allows TFG to bring a new compelling international sports fashion offering to the South African market. This further bolsters our existing sports positioning, with our Sportscene, Totalsports and Sneaker Factory stores already being the destinations of choice for athletic and leisure sports apparel," TFG chief executive officer Anthony Thunstrom said in a company release.

TFG will open more than 40 JD Sports stores over the next five years in South Africa. The group expects to launch the first such stores by the end of the year, Thunstrom added.

The deal marks the next stage of JD Sports' global growth strategy, and the partnership will enable JD Sports to deliver on the roll out of its 'JD Brand First' plan and is a pivotal move in the continued expansion into underpenetrated markets, the release said.

The implementation of the agreement is subject to exchange control approval from the financial surveillance department of the South African Reserve Bank—customary for a transaction of this nature.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)