London (Reuters)LondonBritain’s biggest sportswear store, JD (NASDAQ: JD) Sports Fashion, has made a deal with Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) to sell more of the U.S. brand’s shoes and clothes.
The store said on Friday that it would be Nike’s first European retail partner for its Connected Partnership loyalty program. This will give JD customers in the UK access to certain Nike products that are only available to members, like the Nike Blazer Pro trainers.
Sherilyn Paterson, the group merchandising director at JD Sports, said, “Nike is working with fewer but more important partners, and we want to be one of those landmark partners.”
Customers of JD Sports must use the JD Mobile App to link their JD and Nike membership accounts. By linking the accounts, they get priority access to certain Nike products, experiences, and deals that are only available to members.
Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. started the partnership programme in the US in November of last year.
JD has 3,400 stores spread across 35 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific.
Last week, JD said that its profits for the first half of the year fell 18% and that it was cautious about the future because inflation could make prices go up and port strikes are making the supply chain more difficult. Its stock has lost 54% of its value this year.
On Thursday, Nike said that its quarterly profit went down. Higher costs and a stronger dollar hurt the company.