Outdoor retailers Blacks and Millets look to rebrand

Blacks Leisure Group is understood to be looking to rebrand its Blacks and Millets brands.

Blacks

The retail group was acquired in January by sportswear company JD Sports, which rescued it from administration in a £20m deal.

Chief executive of Blacks Leisure Group Julia Reynolds is reported to have said that Blacks needs to be rebranded as a family-friendly retailer, and the Millets brand overhauled in a way that will tap into its British heritage.

Blacks Leisure group and JD Sports were unavailable for comment and are not able to confirm if design consultancies are already being sought.

There may also be retail design opportunities, with pilot store trials reported for six Blacks stores later this year.

Reynolds was reported to have said she is ‘ready to get going’ on the project which will aim to reposition the brands to better serve women and families, moving away from ‘testosterone-filled images’ in store while finding a way to inject personality into both brands and better target festival-goers.

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  • gf November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Whilst there is a need for specialist outdoor clothing and equipment retailers, many customers are not so keen on paying the high prices attributed to a Berghaus fleece or Karrimoor walking boots. Instead, these customers have found alternative retailers either online (especially eBay and Amazon Marketplace), in supermarkets such as Tesco Extra, Aldi or Lidl, or even elsewhere on the High St with Mountain Warehouse.

    I think Julia Reynolds has a good strategy, but I would go one step further and perhaps risk cheapening one of the brands slightly (or at least offering a “value” range within the brand) to offer a wide range of acceptable own brand products.

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