Landmark independent retailer to reopen iconic sport branch

Independent retailer Hurleys is reviving its iconic Hurley Sport name with the reopening of a dedicated menswear store at Middlebrook in Horwich, more than 40 years after the brand became associated with Manchester’s sportswear scene.

The family-owned business, which is a member of Bira, is transforming its former outlet store opposite its existing men’s and women’s shop near the Vue cinema into a modern take on the Hurley Sport brand.

The new store will officially open on Saturday, September 12, following an invite-only launch two days earlier, with the business aiming to combine the look and feel of the original Hurley Sport with a contemporary retail offer.

Hurley Sport was originally known for bringing European sportswear brands including Sergio Tacchini, Fila and Ellesse to Manchester, with shoppers travelling from across the UK to visit the family’s Piccadilly stores during the 1970s and 1980s.

General manager Jess Pizzey, whose grandparents Ron and Eileen Hurley founded the business in 1955, said the revival reflects the renewed popularity of the brands that helped establish the Hurley Sport name.

“There’s lots of people doing really well with this kind of stuff, and they weren’t even around in the day. We are the original retailers of it, so we thought, well, we need to give this a shot.”

The return follows Hurleys’ 70th anniversary last year, when the family began looking through old photographs, shop memorabilia and other archives that brought back memories of the original stores and the customers who visited them.

Pizzey said the resurgence of the brands, combined with the family’s history, provided the opportunity to bring the concept back.

“We were going through the archives, everything, and getting all our old stuff. That really sort of egged us on of going, right, what can we bring back from the old days? The fashion’s come back around. Why not?”

The Middlebrook store is being fitted out in just two and a half to three weeks, with old photographs and memorabilia set to feature alongside signage inspired by the red and green design of the former Piccadilly Hurley Sport shop.

The new store will stock brands including Sergio Tacchini, Fila, Rockport, Kappa, Ellesse, Patrick, Diadora, Gola, Lacoste, Fred Perry, Lois, Henri Lloyd and Gabicci, with the range combining brighter 1980s-inspired styles with more understated modern designs.

Hurleys was founded as Hurley’s Sports & Camping on Eccles New Road in Salford in 1955 before expanding into Manchester city centre and eventually operating 16 stores across the North West.

The business later consolidated around its Middlebrook base following the 2008 financial crisis, with the site becoming its flagship and the family increasing its focus on online retail.

More than two decades after the Middlebrook store first opened, Hurleys is now using the location to bring one of the most recognisable names from its past back to the high street.