AN Irish 'athleisure' and lifestyle brand in which former One Direction star Niall Horan is an investor and adviser has launched its first Northern Ireland store at Belfast's Victoria Square.
Gym+Coffee, which since 2017 has been producing high-quality Irish-designed clothing through its e-commerce platforms in Europe, the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand, has opened a 2,300 sq ft lower ground floor unit opposite Calvin Klein and Hollister on Ann Street.
The Gym+Coffee clubhouse concept forms part of the brand’s continued expansion and is its eighth store following the Manchester and London openings.
The Belfast debut will create 15 jobs, and the brand continues to look to the future as it plans to double its staff across the company’s HQ and retail stores by the end of 2021.
The brand's retail director Natalie Conway said: “Our first clubhouse in Northern Ireland had to be in a key retail hub for the city to fulfil the demand from our growing audience.
“Belfast is consistently the most requested location by our fans and Victoria Square stood out as a central spot for people to connect and get involved in the Gym+Coffee sphere.
“Our clubhouses are much more than pure retail and we love encouraging people to visit us to get active and make life richer. We are delighted to join the Victoria Square family.”
Criona Collins, head of retail agency at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) Belfast, added: “We are pleased to welcome Gym+Coffee to our strong retail line up at Victoria Square.
“The brand provides a great offer and one that is perfectly aligned with our consumers and fulfils the demand for this very specialised sector. The experience element to the store also provides a unique element and something that sets the debut location apart from other destinations in Northern Ireland.”
LSH and Savills are joint agents for Victoria Square, which is owned by German Commerz Real’s real estate fund Hausinvest . Gym+Coffee dealt direct.
