‘Big plans’ - Newcastle United tease new St James’ Park development after £40m agreement

Newcastle United have announced that their current club shop will undergo a ‘significant refit’ at the end of May when their agreement with Castore comes to an end. Adidas will then become the club’s principal kit supplier in a deal that is understood to be worth £40m a season.

In the meantime whilst the club shop is redesigned, a temporary store, situated between The Strawberry and St James’ STACK will be opened for supporters to purchase club stock. That will occur on May 29 ahead of a men’s and women’s international double header that will be hosted at St James’ Park.

Chief commercial officer, Peter Silverstone, said: "We are hugely excited about engaging with supporters directly through our new in-house retail operations. We have big plans for our retail business, and the first step on the journey is to launch a new digital retail platform while completely revitalising how we meet supporters' needs in our physical stores.

"The temporary store at Strawberry Place will enable us to close the existing retail outlet at St. James' Park and put significant investment into the site. The result will be the launch of a world class retail experience at a flagship stadium store, filled with new kit and merchandise that we anticipate will be hugely popular.

"We are building a passionate local team to drive this new retail operation, helping us to deliver on the huge demand for Newcastle United products through best-in-class service. We recognise it will take time to get our service to the perfect levels we strive for, and we thank supporters for their patience as we go through this important transitionary period over the summer months."

The temporary structure will then be dismantled once the club shop opens on a permanent basis. Newcastle United’s new home kit, their first made by Adidas since the 2009/10 season, will be released on June 7.