Despite primarily being a digital brand, activewear retailer Gym King launched its second London pop-up at Westfield London earlier this month.
The event, which runs from 23 May to 30 May, follows the brand’s pop-up store in Soho last year, which saw a one-day takeover of The Luxe Lounge to display its womenswear.
Although the Soho launch was hailed as a success by the group, Gym King is not resting on its laurels and is gearing up to launch an even “bigger and better” event this time around.
An opportunity to showcase its quality
Gym King has come a long way since being launched in 2015 by CEO Jay Parker.
It has grown into a globally recognised brand with a large social media following. It also has a host of influencer ambassadors, and pulled in sales of £26m in its latest financial period.
Despite its online success, Gym King head of brand Charlotte Hutton notes that its pop-ups serve as important places for it to showcase the quality of its clothes.
“Obviously being an ecommerce first business means we don’t really have many bricks and mortar sites, other than a concession in New Look and Selfridges for men,” she says.
“So for us it’s really important that we can showcase the quality of our products, because there’s only so much you could do through a phone screen which most people engage with our brand on.
“It’s those in-person moments that I think can really help to solidify the brand message and the premium products that we offer.”
“It’s customers being able to feel the products, see how good the tech spec is of our gym wear and that it’s not thin,” she says.
“Sometimes you’re not sure how it’s going to look in person so I think it’s just that experience of being able to see that we have really good quality products.”
A host of influencer ambassadors
While Soho focused solely on womenswear, Gym King’s new Westfield pop-up is branching out to offer men’s, women’s and kidswear at its store.
The pop-up will be heavy on experiential retail, complete with live DJs, food and drink, a photobooth, and a free accessory for its first 100 customers.
Hutton also highlights that the pop-up will have “quite a few influencer ambassadors” turning up on its first day.
“We are today (19 May) announcing our new ambassador which is Jacques O’Neill,” she says. “So he will be there for a meet and greet on the first day.”
She explains that customers being able to meet its ambassadors at the pop-up serves as a point of difference with its pop-up stores.
“I think being able to meet our ambassadors is quite important for us. We talk about ‘nothing beats belief’ as our core messaging and who we are as a brand.
“We choose ambassadors based on that messaging and people who are aspirational and have achieved amazing things or have got the same mindset as us.”
She adds: “I think being able to actually see that in person is a good point of difference against other brands to show that the people that we engage with and that we believe should be wearing our products are real physical people.”
Although Gym King has already proved itself in many ways, it’s far from the end of the line for the ambitious sportswear retailer.
As it continues to evolve, Hutton reveals that the brand hopes to roll out more physical spaces in the near future.
“We definitely want to do another pop up either at the end of the year or at the beginning next year,” she says.
“That will be in Manchester because that’s another hot spot for us in terms of consumer base.”
Although she does not reveal any specific locations, the exec also says there has also been “talk of whether we go into flagship stores” in the “not too distant future”.
So if you’re a fan of Gym King’s selection of gym clothes, loungewear, and activewear pieces, the retailer’s head of brand encourages you to “watch this space”.
