Everton are making a return to Liverpool city centre.
Following the announcement of the Club's new retail deal with Kitbag Limited, it has been confirmed that that the Club is to have a store in the Liverpool One development.
The new 6,000 sq ft store will open during the first weekend of July this year. Everton has brought in The Maxim Creative Group Limited - a specialised design and fit-out company - to design the new-look store.
And visuals have been officially released for the first time today.
All of the store furniture in the City Centre outlet is bespoke and has been uniquely created for Everton, giving the store a very contemporary and iconic feel. Kitbag aims to create real 'retail theatre' in the new store, through the use of stunning visuals from Everton's history - and in that respect the company has turned to the Everton Collection Charitable Trust for assistance.
The store will contain unique display items from the Everton Collection and these will be changed periodically - making for an emotional and educational retail experience every time. Everton will be the only football club in the UK to decorate its store in this way - no other UK club has the capability to do this, due to the sheer number of artefacts in the Everton Collection.
In addition to these artefacts, the interior will continue the emotive and proud theme on the mezzanine - indeed, pride of place on this level will be a large display highlighting the long list of Everton's firsts - exemplifying the club's innovative history.
Everton chief executive Robert Elstone: "We are delighted to announce to our supporters the imminent and much anticipated arrival of a City Centre retail outlet. These exclusive store images clearly show how stylish the new unit will be and demonstrate our commitment to a rewarding visit - as well as providing the most efficient retail offering possible. The City Centre store will also be a truly emotional experience for fans, thanks to our football club's amazing heritage."
Chris Bailes has been appointed as retail operations manager to assist the company to launch and operate the new Everton store. Chris has a great deal of sports retail experience.
He said: "When I was approached to take up the post and witnessed the plans for Everton retail I jumped at the chance. The new store in the City Centre will be another Everton first; it is very modern and totally unique. Customer service and satisfaction will be at the heart of our operation and I know Evertonians and football fans alike will be proud of this fantastic store.
"Together with Kitbag's renowned online expertise, customers will benefit from our exceptional order and delivery capability. For example, if a customer making purchases at our new store wants to send a shirt to a relative in Australia, an Everton scarf to a friend in California and take home an Everton track suit we can achieve all of that at the point of sale."
In addition, the store will offer a click and collect service - by simply going online, fans can purchase products for collection in-store the very next day. This innovation is unique to Everton - no other football clubs currently offer this service.
Working with Chris will be Simon Gibson who has been appointed the manager of the Everton City Centre store. Simon has a great deal of retail experience and was previously with both USC and Littlewoods. As an Evertonian this is his dream job.
The new store will create 25 full and part time jobs. For information on how to apply for a position at the new Everton store, please visit evertonfc.com/careers or the job section on the Liverpool One website at liverpool-one.com. Kitbag commences training its new staff on 1 June at Goodison Park.
