'World-class' St James' Park upgrade set to start this week ahead of £30m Newcastle United deal

Newcastle United’s club shop at St James’ Park is undergoing a ‘world-class’ refurbishment this summer.

This comes as part of the incoming Adidas kit deal worth upwards of £30million-per-season. The Magpies have negotiated an early exit from their kit-supplier agreement with Castore which will see Adidas return for the first time since 2010.

The existing club shop located under the Gallowgate Stand at St James’ Park is set to have a ‘significant refit’ with an adjacent temporary store opening in the meantime. A small temporary store consisting of five modified shipping containers has been constructed on a disused parking area between the Strawberry Pub and St James’ Metro Station.

The new temporary shop will officially open on Wednesday, May 29 ahead of the official Adidas home kit launch on Friday, June 7. Details of the new home shirt have already been leaked in images on social media.

The construction of a temporary club shop will help protect jobs and continue revenue streams while the existing shop is refurbished this summer. The club have planning permission to keep the temporary structure on the site until November 18, 2024. The land must be restored to its former condition no later than the expiry date.

Newcastle 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."