Castore, the performance sportswear brand, announces a record Christmas trading period, with its strongest ever sales performance. Castore grew revenues 16% Year-on-Year (YoY) in the month of December, as the sportswear market remained more resilient than other retail segments and consumers continue to prioritise their health, wellbeing and fitness.
Some interesting consumer shopping trends included:
- Customers being more organised and pulling forward Christmas spending, with the weekend of 7 and 8 December seeing the highest footfall in stores.
- Boxing Day was the largest individual revenue day with a majority of sales happening online and through the Castore app as shoppers chose to stay at home and spend time with their families.
- Dubai Mall remains Castore’s highest revenue generating store for the second consecutive year, as the brand continues to grow in the region and further internationally.
Best-selling products
Over 150,000 football shirts were sold in the final weeks before Christmas with a shirt remaining the perfect present for fans of all ages.
Formula 1 products were a standout performer, with McLaren and Red Bull sales growing by more than 20% YoY, as the sport continued to benefit from growth in global interest as both teams performed strongly on track. This remains a key growth area for the business ahead of the new season starting in March, as Castore looks to lead the market and serve an ever expanding fan base.
Female product sales were up over 30% YoY demonstrating the continued growth in women’s sport. There has been continued strong sales of team products across all women’s sports, whilst the Zone performance legging was the most in demand item, supported by the continued athleisure trend which shows no sign of abating.
The best-selling Castore items were the Apex training t-shirts and shorts as customers geared up to hit the gym for New Year’s training resolutions after Christmas festivities. These retail at the higher end of the pricing range, showing customers are willing to spend on premium products where they see performance benefits and value. This reverses a trend seen in 2023 where lower priced products were more favoured by customers.
Outlook
Despite the continued cost rises to businesses, and the National Insurance tax increases, Castore remain bullish on the high street and plan to open 5-10 new stores in 2025, expecting to create more than 30 new jobs while reiterating their commitment to physical retail stores.
Tom Beahon, co-founder of Castore, commented: “We are delighted to deliver such resilient trading in a challenging environment and this positive momentum has continued so far into January. Our strategy will remain focussed on omnichannel, combining the best of digital, physical stores and third party retail partners to maximise the reach of the Castore brand. Product innovation remains at the heart of Castore’s success and we are excited to launch a number of new ranges to customers and fans this year.
We are pleased to see long-term partners and ambassadors like Sir Andy Murray – currently coaching Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open – continue to wear Castore, which again has a resilient, knock-on impact on demand for specific products, as well as our team partners’ continued success on and off the pitch.
We are optimistic about 2025 despite the macro-economic uncertainties and are forecasting continued profitable growth both in the UK and international markets.”
