Frasers Group launches Sports Direct flagship in Liverpool with ELEVATE

Frasers Group has opened a new flagship Sports Direct store on Church Street in Liverpool, combining the retail chain with Everlast Gyms+ and integrating its own ELEVATE retail media platform throughout the site.

This new store is the first in Frasers Group's portfolio to be designed around ELEVATE. This proprietary retail media platform transforms every customer touchpoint into a data-driven media opportunity for brands.

Digitally advanced store

The Sports Direct Liverpool location, which also houses an Everlast Gyms+ on its premises, spans three storeys and covers 65,000 square feet. It is situated in the historic Grade II-listed Compton House and aims to combine heritage architecture with modern retail technology and services.

Frasers Group stated that the site was "purpose-built to serve today's consumers, and maximise how they shop, train, and live in the city's newest destination where sport, performance, wellness and style combine."

The ELEVATE platform is at the heart of the new store. According to the company, ELEVATE enables in-store, on-site, and out-of-home brand content and targeted promotions to be delivered in real time, allowing brands to engage shoppers in the city directly and measurably.

Major screen rollout

As part of the Liverpool opening, Frasers Group has deployed over 20 new digital screens across Sports Direct, Everlast Gyms+, and the FLANNELS store in the city. These digital screens enable brands to communicate with audiences across segments, including sports and premium retail, as well as gym-goers.

Frasers Group confirmed that these investments are the initial phase of a larger rollout. Over the next three years, the Group plans to install more than 1,000 new digital screens across its UK store estate, with further expansion into Europe by the end of the programme.

The company aims to position ELEVATE among the top three retail media screen networks in the UK by leveraging its multiple retail formats and an audience reportedly exceeding 32 million customers across all its channels.

Transforming retail engagement

With the integration of the ELEVATE platform, Frasers Group intends for its retail spaces to function not only as points of sale but as dynamic, data-rich media environments where brands can tell their stories and interact with consumers. The company describes this as part of a wider strategy to turn its physical footprint, including Sports Direct, premium and luxury retail, Everlast Gyms, and Slazenger Padel Clubs, into a coordinated media ecosystem.

David Clark, Chief Customer Officer at Frasers Group commented: "Sports Direct Liverpool is the first flagship store built and designed specifically with ELEVATE in mind, offering a more immersive customer experience and a dynamic media platform for brand partners. This marks a pivotal moment for Frasers Group and ELEVATE and further fuels our ambition of becoming one of the UK's largest retail media networks. Together with Everlast Gyms+, FLANNELS and out-of-home activations across the city, Liverpool is a perfect 360-degree case study for Frasers Group's long-term retail media and digital capabilities: content-led, connected and designed for impact."

The Liverpool launch is seen by the Group as a benchmark for future store developments, with a focus on connecting brands with consumers in real time and maximising brand engagement at every stage of the customer journey.

According to Frasers Group, this approach is intended to improve both the retail and advertising value of its large network, setting the groundwork for international expansion alongside further UK investment in its digital and physical infrastructure.

The Group's broader retail media ambitions include transforming its entire estate into what it describes as a data-driven media platform for brands, covering multiple retail sectors and geographic markets.