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Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1979 |
Headquarters | Mary Street, , |
Number of locations | 43 shops |
Key people | Mark Stafford (CEO) |
Products |
|
Owner | Stafford family |
Parent | Stafford Group |
Website | lifestylesports.com |
Life Style Sports, officially Lifestyle Sports (Ireland) Limited is Ireland's largest sports retailer, operating 46 outlets spread across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They stock sporting goods and sport fashions.
Life Style Sports was established in 1979 in the Republic of Ireland by Quinnsworth, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. [1] In 1997 it was bought by Tesco PLC but was later spun off via a management buy-out of seven directors, led by MD Andrew Sharkey and venture capital firm, ACT.
In November 2005, it was acquired by Stafford Holdings – an Irish family-owned company who stated, "This latest acquisition is in line with its stated strategy of seeking acquisition opportunities in new sectors which offer strong growth potential, while maintaining a strong commitment to its current portfolio of businesses." [2] In 2006, former Dunnes Stores senior director Eoin McGettigan was appointed CEO. [3] Mark Stafford took up the role of chairman. In early 2009, Mark Stafford replaced McGettigan as CEO. He was joined by former Nike Ireland general manager Nigel Cowman as Finance Director, Dan Ryan from Penneys and Brown Thomas as Trading Director.
In September 2007 a new flagship shop opened in the Blanchardstown Centre, Dublin. This remained their largest shop, at 21,000 square feet (2,000 m2). [4] until July 2017, when the company's new flagship shop opened in The Capitol building St Patrick's Street in Cork. [5]
In 2013, Life Style Sports became the official retail partner of Leinster Rugby, with a Life Style Sports shop located in Donnybrook Stadium and the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), home of Leinster Rugby. [6] Life Style Sports is also the official retail partner of Munster Rugby. [7]
Portlaoise, or Port Laoise, is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster.
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Tesco Ireland Limited is the Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limited and its subsidiaries, trading as "Quinnsworth" and "Crazy Prices". There are 152 Tesco stores in operation in Ireland as of August 2018. Tesco had approximately 21% of the Irish grocery market in 2019 and its main competitors are Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.
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In the Republic of Ireland, the retail sector provides one of the largest sources of employment in the economy, representing over 12% of the workforce. As of 2017, approximately 40,000 wholesale and retail businesses employed almost 280,000 people in Ireland, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment reporting that 90% of these businesses were Irish-owned.
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