City Sports Expands Hometown Portfolio with Wellesley Store Opening

BOSTON, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- City Sports today announced that its newest retail location is scheduled to open the last week of September at 475 Washington Street in Wellesley, Mass. which is set to be one of the Boston-based brand's most innovative and tailored consumer shopping experiences to date.

City Sports plans to celebrate the official Wellesley store launch with a free consumer event, which will include music, refreshments and over $1,000 in prizes for party participants.

"At City Sports, we pride ourselves on giving our customers a uniquely unmatched shopping experience, and each new store opening is a chance to up the ante in that arena," said City Sports President and CEO Jeff Connor. "Being a Boston-born company, we are especially excited that this new space will be showcased right in our own backyard in Wellesley."

At over 10,000 square feet, City Sports' Wellesley hub is set to provide the ultimate shopping experience for the brand's athletic clientele.  The store is located on Washington Avenue on the site of the former St. Moritz location.  "The space is iconic in Wellesley, and we are excited to transform it into an exciting new experience for the community," Connor said.  "We have once again engaged our architecture and design partners at Gensler to take it to the next level."

City Sports and Gensler have previously collaborated on the retailer's dramatic Georgetown store in Washington, DC and, most recently, on the redesign of City Sport's downtown Philadelphia location.  "We took the opportunity to bring the City Sports urban aesthetic to the outside of the store with a combination of wood, metal and transparency," said Julie Reker, associate at Gensler, of the Wellesley space.

The Wellesley store design features a dramatic facade with a wraparound steel awning and tall windows that showcase the interior design and product assortment.  Inside, the space will house a freestanding footwear wall and an interactive electronics room that offers shoppers the use of in-store iPads to access information about products on the company's website as well as the ability to wear-test headphones.  Other store features include an "energy station" with sports drinks and snacks, and lockers for participants in City Sports' group activities, including its popular weekly Run Club and Boot Camp series which will be launching in October.

Aptly situated on the Boston Marathon route, the Wellesley store will house a haven for runners and other sport-specific enthusiasts as it displays a multi-boutique feel in the form of designated shopping areas separated by activity and gender. One area will include a specially curated woman's section, which will offer private fitting rooms and a communal table, featuring an iMac, that will allow for female customers to reference City Sports' online Bra Finder which is set to launch on the brand's website when the Wellesley store opens.

City Sports' Wellesley opening event will take place on Saturday, October 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to all patrons. A festive and family-friendly atmosphere is planned with a DJ, treats from PinkBerry and raffles worth over $1,000 of in-store merchandise, including a BOB™ stroller and a GoPro™ digital camera. The first 100 customers to enter the store at the start of the event will also receive a free City Sports gift bag and have the chance to win the brand's signature grand prize: one free pair of shoes a month for an entire year.

For more information and updates on the Wellesley store opening, please visit the official City Sports website at citysports.com.

About City Sports:

An award-winning specialty sports retailer headquartered in Boston, City Sports is the premiere destination for urban athletes and active lifestyle enthusiasts. The company operates 18 metropolitan stores across the East Coast, with locations in Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Atlanta. City Sports offers a comprehensive assortment of performance footwear, equipment and apparel from leading athletic and special niche brands, as well as its proprietary "CS by City Sports" line, all focused on outfitting the urban athlete who participates in running, triathlons, training, cycling, swimming and tennis. City Sports was named one of 2010's "50 Best Running Stores in America" by the Independent Running Retailers Association in conjunction with Formula4Media.

www.citysports.com

About Gensler:

Gensler is a global design, planning and strategic consulting firm networked across 38 locations on five continents. Consistently ranked by U.S. and international industry surveys as the leading architecture and interior design firm, Gensler leverages its deep resources and diverse expertise to develop design solutions for industries across the globe. For its longstanding commitment to the advancement of sustainable design, Gensler received the Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2005. For more information, visit www.gensler.com, our blog, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

SOURCE City Sports