Newcastle City Council has accepted Newcastle United’s St James Park project.
Newcastle United’s proposals for a temporary club shop at St James’ Park have been approved by the city council.
The Magpies have submitted a proposal to set up an interim shop in St James Metro Car Park. This will allow the existing store to be “comprehensively refurbished” as part of Adidas’ long-awaited comeback as official kit partners this summer.
The temporary facility, which is not currently in use, will be made up of prefabricated containers, and planning clearance has been granted until November of this year. It will help to protect jobs while also allowing Newcastle to continue generating merchandise income.
Indeed, Adidas revealed in September of last year that they had agreed to a multi-year deal worth £40 million per season to take over from the unpopular Castore.
In addition to manufacturing the club’s kits, the Adidas arrangement will see Newcastle revamp its own retail operations, both in-store and online, locally and globally. As part of the agreement reached by former owner Mike Ashley in 2021, Castore now has complete control of the retail operation.
Despite a high level of customer dissatisfaction with Castore, Adidas’ return delivers a considerable financial gain, with Newcastle previously getting only £5 million per year from Castore.
United was bound into a multi-year contract with Castore, but they were able to negotiate an early exit last summer. Newcastle officials visited Adidas’ headquarters in Germany last year, and the accord has been characterized as the club’s largest commercial contract in history.
Meanwhile, development is already underway at St James’ Park, with the new fan zone – St James’ Park STACK – set to open in June.
“We’re full steam ahead on [the fan zone],” said Newcastle CEO Darren Eales. Our objective is to open it in the spring and summer, and we want to have it completely operational by the end of the season, or at the beginning of the following season.
“To be clear, it’s not only on matchdays; St James’ Stack will be open seven days a week, which excites us because it expands our footprint. It all comes down to our incredible fan base, which is twice the size of St James’ Park.
“The possibility for us to have a presence at St James’ Stack and hold events there to let people feel connected without a season ticket is part of how we’re thinking about growing the club and making our supporters feel more engaged. It’s not just on game days; it’s about what else we can do for the club all year.”
Both the club store and the fan zone will aid Newcastle greatly in meeting Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules.”
