Sportsgirl
 |
|
| Privately owned | |
| Industry | Fashion |
| Founded | Melbourne, Australia |
| Founder | Bardas family |
|
Area served
|
Australia |
| Products | Clothing, cosmetics |
| Website | http://www.sportsgirl.com.au |
Sportsgirl is a women's clothing chain, owned and operated by the Sussan Retail Group in Australia.
The first Sportsgirl stores were opened in 1948 in Melbourne, as a younger, more fun alternative to the more conservative sister label Sportscraft. Since that time, the Sportsgirl brand has grown from a few boutique stores to a major Australian fashion brand.
The first Sportsgirl store was opened in 1948 in Swanston Street, Melbourne, by the Bardas family. The Bardas family was also manufacturers of the Sportscraft clothing label, sold through department stores. At the time of opening the Swanston Street store, the Bardas family had no other retail outlets.
In 1956, the year of the Melbourne Olympics, the rent on the Swanston Street property was raised and the family moved the Sportsgirl shop to Collins Street, Melbourne. In 1959, the Bardas family purchased this property when it came onto the market, and the acquisition of this prominent flagship site became a significant element in Sportsgirl's retailing and business strategy.
Sportsgirl gradually grows a network of stores in Melbourne, specialising in providing the latest fashion trends from overseas. It offers younger women a livelier option than its more conservative sibling label Sportscraft.
In the 1960s, Sportsgirl emerged as a leader in the Australian fashion industry by successfully developing a brand image and a store identity that moved fashion retail away from the concept of established department stores to the concept of the lifestyle fashion boutique.
Sportsgirl used interior design, visual merchandising, graphic design, and advertising to build its fashion brand into one that appealed to the emerging youth market of the 1960s.
As well as carefully choosing overseas imports, Sportsgirl sourced its fashion lines from young Australian designers. It also employed heavy use of print advertising and merchandising display to create a Sportsgirl identity that linked its clothing lines to a set of lifestyle values and accessories.
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Wikipedia