Reluctant Marathon Man Noel Mack On How Gymshark Intends To Take America By Storm

This series goes deep with some of the most compelling figures in commercial real estate: the deal-makers, the game-changers, the city-shapers and the larger-than-life personalities who keep CRE interesting.

The story behind UK gym wear brand Gymshark is a classic retail tale, as self-confessed shy, skinny teenager Ben Francis transformed from gym novice to one of the country’s youngest billionaires after starting to make his own gym clothing from his bedroom in his parents' Solihull home.

Chief Brand Officer Noel Mack joined the rapidly expanding company eight years ago, and during that time he has been a key part of a management team that has built Gymshark from an online powerhouse into a global brand with stores in the UK, a recently-opened Dubai store and, opening in the spring, a New York flagship.

The brand’s ambition is to do for specialist gym wear what Nike has achieved in running, and Gymshark has never made any secret of its desire to become a major player in the U.S., with the first permanent New York location building on a recent pop-up store in the city as well as a host of live events across North America.

Mack talked to Bisnow about why he is certain New York will be Gymshark’s best store yet, the way stores have created a halo effect for the brand and why after the interview he has to get a 10 kilometre run around the Gymshark business park done.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Bisnow: Tell us about the lessons you have learned from opening the first store on Regent Street in London.

Mack: We had to learn some real bread-and-butter retail stuff. To the untrained eye, going from selling stuff online to selling stuff on the high street would seem a pretty simple transition. Turns out, it’s not. As consumers, there's a subconscious trust when you see a brand on a high street or in bricks and mortar, which you don't have for e-commerce, when you see just another advert on Instagram. The store has done incredibly well, so it's taught us that there's a real hunger for Gymshark.

On Regent Street, there’s been a real halo impact on brand awareness and brand consideration in the UK. E-commerce sales in London and the areas surrounding London have all gone up. Literally, you could draw a line from when Regent Street opened as of that day. So there still is a level of trust that you get with a brand that's on the high street you just don't have with an e-commerce brand.

Bisnow: How has that strategy evolved with firstly the UK stores, and secondly the new Dubai store?

Mack: We've learned more about our own product and the differences in what the browsing experience looks like online versus in-store. I think that your hierarchy of needs is slightly different when you shop a store versus online, like the feel for the fabrics, outfitting, the merchandising. We started with a flagship, which obviously most people don't do. And it was an experiential flagship, so we threw everything at that first store, all sorts of different experiences, a Joe and the Juice and lots of things. We've really drilled down now into what works and what doesn't work so well. As we roll out, we're starting to double down on the stuff that we know works and come off the gas with things that maybe didn't pan out.

That feedback cycle is a really big thing for us. In the digital world, it's easy, right? We create a product, we create a campaign, we put it out on Instagram. Within two hours, we've got feedback on whether it works or not, both implicit and explicit, and then we can literally iterate on it. The feedback I want from the store is very different. I much prefer to hear the qualitative feedback. I want to hear tales from Regent Street. 

It's why you would have seen our IRL brand as it appeared in Regent Street change quite substantially, then into Stratford [Westfield], then into Dubai. You could even argue that we've been a little bit inconsistent, but I'm happy to be inconsistent because I'm constantly sharpening the sword.

Bisnow: Why did you decide to locate your first overseas store in the UAE, and how did you find the experience?

Mack: The rationale was that me and Ben went over to Dubai about 18 months ago with the intention of taking a look at the region. We realised that it felt like the fitness scene in Europe did 10 years ago, when there were no real brands standing up and representing the subculture that is fitness and gym training. We thought we should get over there and do that ASAP before somebody else does it.

We've done that in other regions in the past, for European regions, Scandinavia, and we haven't necessarily had to roll out retail stores. But I think part and parcel of entering Dubai is you have to do bricks and mortar, because it's just part of the mix and you know the old adage that you have to meet customers where they are.

We managed to secure a location in potentially the most iconic mall [Dubai Mall], and again, a bit like Regent Street, the fiscal results have been incredible, more than we expected. So we’re really happy on that front. For me, personally, having poured more energy and work into the word Gymshark than anything in my life, walking around that corner in the Dubai Mall and seeing the Gymshark name up in lights in such an iconic location, it was a very emotional moment for me. I'll get a bit teary-eyed. It goes back to what I said earlier, there's still a subconscious thing around stores. 

Bisnow: What are your plans in the region?

Mack: The sports brands and the yoga brands have already begun their expansion in the region. What they still don't have yet is a gym brand. And obviously it's a relatively new idea here in the UK. You step into the gyms over there and people are still wearing stuff that's designed for other sports. So we're just introducing our idea that, hey guys, maybe you should think about wearing gym clothing for the gym. And you could also argue that fitness is actually a bigger part of the day-to-day lifestyle in Dubai, so it's arguably even more fertile ground.

Bisnow: Retailers seem much more positive about their stores than a few years ago. As a brand that debuted online, what do stores mean to you?

Mack: For the business, it's a really exciting next chapter in the story. It's unknown. It's going to take some bold steps. We've never really been known as a brand that rests on its laurels. I always harp on about how customer-centric we are and how much we listen to customers and will react to what they say to us. Well, right now, they're voting with their feet and they're stepping out to the high street again. So by the same token, you have to meet them where they are.

Bisnow: New York is next. What can U.S. customers expect and what was the reaction to the recent pop-up over the holiday season?

Mack: The reaction to the pop-up was really, really good. We probably activated it more than a normal store, which meant there were a lot of Gymshark fans that would already have come out to other Gymshark things. Where we're going now, in Bond Street in NoHo, we would expect to activate it a bit less than that, and we would expect more new customers.

Regent Street was two things: It was our first ever store, but it was also a flagship. Since then, we haven't opened another flagship. Now we're coming in with the experience about what does and doesn't work in flagships, a real understanding of how to best bring experiences to life in our stores. And again, which you can't overlook, we have a ton more experience with our recent hires as well in this [physical retail] world. Retail experts, [visual merchandising] experts in-house, which we didn't previously have. So while I can't give away too much, one thing I definitely can promise is that this is going to be the best physical representation of Gymshark that the world's ever seen in arguably the world's most iconic city.

Bisnow: And what is the big dream for Gymshark in the U.S.?

Mack: I love the idea that we can become the people's champions of anyone who steps foot in the gym. Nike has done such an incredible job with sports athletes in the U.S., and we want to do the same with the athlete who steps into the gym, that self-improvement athlete, as opposed to straight up sports.

Maybe it's an emotional thing as well. Obviously, it's a huge market. Ben's always had a bit of a connection with wanting to do something in the States. This was all born in bodybuilding, if we take it all the way back. And if you talk to your average person on the street and say bodybuilder, they all say Arnold Schwarzenegger, Venice Beach. 

We've always had a bit of a spiritual home in the U.S. In fact, until Ben came out with his YouTube channel, five, maybe six years ago, most people thought we were an American brand. This whole British brand thing, it's always meant something to us, but we never really externalised it. In fact, I remember being at an event in LA two years ago, people kept asking us, “Hey, what's with all the Australians here?” Brummies [people from Birmingham] constantly get confused as Australians when we're in the States.

Bisnow: Tell us a little about how you came to work with Gymshark?

Mack: I had an agency that was retained by Gymshark in the early days, and myself and Ben sort of clicked. So I came on board eight years ago, and the rest is history. They DM’d me on Instagram — it's all very Gymshark. And then I thought they were American, and I think they thought I was American because I was working in LA at the time. And then we realised we were all Brummies and all the same age, which was coincidental.

Bisnow: Give us a bold prediction for the rest of the year.

Mack: I'm going to use that question as shameless self-promotion. My prediction is that Gymshark is going to open a store the likes of which Manhattan has never seen.

Bisnow: What is your weekend routine or favourite weekend activity?

Mack: Running, right now. I find it a great way to find some resistance on the weekend and make sure you don't spend the whole time just being a sloth. It'll give you something to accomplish. It's just a great head clearer as well. It's a great excuse to go and get in your own head and get thoughts out and process them better for a couple of hours. I’m also training for the Paris marathon on 13 April, and at 12 o'clock today on my lunch break I've got to go and run 10 km around the business park, and then tomorrow I've got to run a half marathon. So right now, it's bearing over me like you wouldn't believe. Once I finish them, I’ll feel lovely.