Publicly traded U.K.-based retailer JD Group, which acquired The Finish Line in June 2018 for $558 million, expects the Times Square location for its JD banner to significantly enhance its presence and standing with brand partners and U.S. consumers. JD reportedly secured a lease on the 36,396-sq. ft. space for $7 million in 2019. The location is expected to open by the end of the summer.

At the end of its fiscal year Feb. 1 and before COVID-19 impacted U.S. retail, JD had 11 operating banners across the country. Five of the doors were converted Finish Line stores and three locations (Mall of Georgia and Cumberland Mall in Georgia and Roosevelt Field on Long Island) were considered “lite’” Finish Line conversions, where new apparel fixtures and signage were installed but Finish Line’s footwear infrastructure and systems remained largely intact. The rest of the company’s U.S. retail fleet included 508 Finish Line doors and 295 Finish Line areas in Macy’s stores after closing 54 of the in-store formats last fiscal year.

In a prepared statement, JD said the Finish Line banner “appeals to a different core demographic” than JD so it intends to retain both banners longer-term. The company continues to strategize on how to best lift Finish Line’s apparel sales, which represented only 5 percent of its topline at acquisition. JD plans to add fixtures and additional in-store marketing to grow the category. This effort is immediately focused on refurbishing seven Finish Line doors to a ‘Store of Now’ concept and 60 less costly overhauls concentrated on fixtures.

On the financial front, the U.S. contributed more than 26 percent of JD’s global revenues of $7.65 billion (£6,110.8 million) in the fiscal year where the company’s topline increased 29.5 percent in local currency. In the U.S., annual sales were $2.02 billion  (£1,611.0 million) as the business segment contributed an operating profit of $118.0 million (£97.9 million) on a pro forma basis.