JD Sports is the leading trainer & sports fashion retailer in the UK.
The letters JD in JD Sports stand for the initials of the founders of the company, John & David. In 1981, the company was established by John Wardle and David Makin, trading from a single shop in Bury, Greater Manchester. In 1983, the company opened a store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester.
In 1989, the first London store opened on Oxford Street, London.
In October 1996, the company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In December 2001 it acquired nearly 200 further stores with the acquisition of First Sport from Blacks Leisure Group.
In October 2005 it bought 70 stores from the administrators of Allsports, who entered administration in September 2005.
In May 2005, Pentland Group bought Wardle's and Makin's shares for £44.6M; the pair later resigned from the board. In December 2007, the company bought out Bank Stores, which sold fashion clothing, such as Firetrap, Alu, Henleys & Adidas Originals for around £19M.
JD Sports is the official supplier and sponsor of numerous association footballteams, players …
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