Nike and Adidas dominate the gym wear market, but there is a young UK company that is rivalling the global giants with strong sales and leading social media presence
Mat Cole form ACT Capital Partners says Adidas and Nike are the major players but there could be a third.
Who are they? Founded by teenager Ben Francis from his parents’ garage in 2012, Gymshark has grown an engaged fan base of millions followers on Instagram, thanks to its ability to leverage the power of social media and influencer marketing.
“It’s the three C’s, it’s community content, and then commerce and they nailed it,”
Mat Cole told ticker news
Cole says they built a really engaged community around the gym.
“People wanted, you know, comfortable, good looking now effective apparel, to wear to the gym, it was probably a really small niche when they started in terms of the serviceability of that entire suite of products from a Nike or an Adidas, and they saw that opportunity.”
The founder started in the back of his parents house packing the gear, shoving it in a box, driving it to the post office himself with an old waggon.
“He did a phenomenal job and, and he stayed in touch with his consumer. He stayed in touch with the influences. He stayed in touch with his community. And that’s the way that we’re able to iterate the products out that people wanted. They understood the products and the demand of their consumers. They built this really fast model to deliver products that people wanted really quickly,” Cole says on founder Ben Francis.
How is Gym Shark at an advantage over major players?
Cole says from day one, they don’t have big incumbent systems like a Reebok or like a Nike, so that’s a real advantage for them.
“I think there’s this huge amount of growth in their business,” he said.
“So direct to consumer, great influence and marketing campaigns, or young CEOs or young founders of startup, handing it over to a more mature CEO to really grow the brand. While he did an apprenticeship. He’s now taken back over as the CEO of Gym Shark.”
The company is based in Birmingham in the UK, it’s got over a billion dollar valuation.
“So it’s one of the first to emerge in that really sort of duopoly market, between Nike and Adidas”
Adidas offloading Reebok?
German sportswear giant Adidas has agreed to sell the struggling Reebok brand after buying the company in 2006.
The new owner is US company Authentic Brands Group who bought the Reebok brand for 2.1 billion euros ($US2.5 billion).
In February this year Adidas announced that it would offload the brand after struggling to lift its fortunes.
Adidas CEO said “Reebok has been a valued part of adidas, and we are grateful for the contributions the brand and the team behind it have made to our company,”
Authentic Brands Group owns a number of well known names including Fashion retailers JCPenney, Forever21 and Brooks Brothers, as well as the publication Sports Illustrated.
Dow gains over 650 points in relief bounce but still faces worst weekly loss since 2023 amid ongoing tariff uncertainties.
In Short
Stocks rebounded on Friday, with the Dow gaining 674.62 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq experiencing their best day of 2025. Despite this, all major indices faced weekly losses due to ongoing trade policy concerns and declining consumer confidence.
Stocks rallied on Friday, reversing some losses from earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 674.62 points, or 1.65%, closing at 41,488.19.
The S&P 500 climbed 2.13% to finish at 5,638.94, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.61% to settle at 17,754.09. This marked the best day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in 2025.
Big tech companies rebounded sharply, with Nvidia up over 5%, Tesla rising nearly 4%, and Meta Platforms gaining close to 3%.
Amazon and Apple also saw increases.
The market bounce was attributed to a lack of new tariff-related news from the White House, alleviating some investor concerns.
Following a drop on Thursday, the S&P 500 entered correction territory, having fallen more than 10% from its recent peak.
The Nasdaq slid deeper into correction, while the small-cap Russell 2000 neared a bear market. Uncertainty stemming from President Trump’s trade policies has contributed to heightened market volatility.
Despite Friday’s gains, the three major indices experienced weekly losses, with the Dow down about 3.1%—the worst week since March 2023. S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell over 2% for their fourth straight weekly decline.
Consumer confidence also declined amid ongoing tariff concerns, with sentiment dropping to 57.9 in March.
Investors await an upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting, where a majority expect interest rates to remain unchanged.
S&P 500 enters correction as stocks plummet amid Trump’s tariff threats, marking a challenging week for Wall Street.
In Short
Stocks plunged on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 1.39% and entering correction territory, while the Dow and Nasdaq also fell significantly. Market uncertainty continues due to President Trump’s tariff threats, leading to losses predicted for the week across major indices.
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as the S&P 500 entered correction territory, dropping 1.39% to close at 5,521.52.
The decline marked a significant downturn where the index sits 10.1% below its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also suffered, losing 537.36 points or 1.3%, closing at 40,813.57, marking its fourth consecutive day of losses. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.96%, with major players like Tesla and Apple being negatively affected.
Tariff threat
The market’s downward trend has been exacerbated by recent tariff threats from President Trump. He proposed 200% tariffs on EU alcoholic products in response to a 50% EU tariff on whisky, indicating a firm stance on expanding trade restrictions.
Investor confidence has been shaken by his unpredictable trade policies, contributing to a week where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are projected to post losses of 4.3% and 4.9%, respectively. The Dow is on track for a 4.7% decline, potentially experiencing its worst week since June 2022.
Small-cap stocks are also suffering, with the Russell 2000 nearing bear market conditions, down approximately 19% from its peak. Portfolio managers express concern that ongoing tariff disputes continue to foster market uncertainty.
Despite some positive signs in inflation data, analysts doubt a significant market rebound is likely, as worries about Trump’s trade approach remain a critical concern for investors.
57% of Americans view Trump’s economic actions as erratic, with concerns over tariffs raising prices, a poll reveals.
In Short
A recent poll shows 57% of Americans believe Trump’s economic actions are erratic, with 70% fearing rising tariffs will increase prices. Despite this, many Republicans still support his economic policies, believing they will benefit the economy in the long run.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that 57% of Americans view President Donald Trump’s actions regarding the economy as too erratic.
This sentiment follows his aggressive import taxation strategies, which have unsettled the stock market.
Approximately one third of respondents expressed that Trump’s actions are not overly erratic, while 11% were unsure or did not provide an answer.
Interestingly, about one in three Republicans also consider Trump’s actions erratic.
Despite this, 79% of Republicans in the poll agree with the notion that Trump’s economic strategies will be beneficial in the long term, indicating that while some may not resonate with his approach, they support the underlying policies.
Trump’s policies
Overall, 41% of all respondents, and only 5% of Democrats, believe Trump’s economic policies will yield positive results eventually.
Furthermore, 70% of survey participants anticipate that increasing tariffs will lead to higher prices for everyday items, including groceries.
Additionally, 61% of respondents stated that managing rising prices should be Trump’s primary focus.
The poll included 1,422 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
This latest data offers insights into public sentiment surrounding Trump’s economic management, highlighting concerns over his erratic approach alongside a degree of support for his policies.