Agilitas Sports opened SportsYard on Mysore Road in Bengaluru on January 7, marking its formal entry into large-format physical retail and unveiling what the company describes as India’s first big-box sports destination. Spread across 34,000 sq ft (the courts and cafe are additional), with 22,000 sq ft of dedicated retail space, SportsYard brings together over 40,000 products across footwear, apparel, wearables and accessories, offering consumers access to premium global sports brands at outlet prices—365 days a year.
Positioned as a high-energy arena blending sport, culture, value and community, SportsYard houses more than 20 global and performance-led brands under one roof, including adidas, ASICS, PUMA, New Balance, Skechers, Lotto and one8, alongside wearables and recovery-focused brands such as Garmin, Hyperice, Frido, FORM, Shokz, Tifosi, Swans and Shoegr. The format also integrates customisation zones, sneaker-care services, pickleball courts, weekend tournaments, workshops, culture-led activations, and healthy cafés curated around sport-inspired menus.
While the store had a soft internal launch for employees and partners to test layouts, assortment and consumer flow, a full public rollout is planned for mid-January. But for Agilitas, SportsYard is not merely a retail opening—it is the consumer-facing manifestation of a carefully constructed sports ecosystem.
Retail as a Feedback Loop, Not Just a Point of Sale
SportsYard has been designed as a live feedback loop, where consumer preferences, product performance, pricing logic, fit, design cues and aspiration can be observed in real time. Rather than relying solely on market research or distant analytics, Agilitas sees the store as a space where insights are generated on the shop floor and fed directly back into product development, sourcing and portfolio decisions.
This philosophy reflects the company’s broader belief that the future of sports retail in India will be built by those who control the entire value chain—from manufacturing and brand-building to retail experience and consumer data.
The Agilitas Blueprint: From Factory Floor to Consumer Experience
Founded in 2023 by Abhishek Ganguly, former Managing Director of Puma India and Southeast Asia, along with co-founders Atul Bajaj, and Amit Prabhu, Agilitas was conceived not as a brand-led venture, but as a full-stack sports platform.
One of its earliest and most decisive moves was the acquisition of Mochiko Shoes, one of India’s largest sports footwear manufacturers. With facilities across Uttarakhand and NCR and revenues exceeding ₹600 crore prior to acquisition, Mochiko produces footwear for multiple global sports and lifestyle brands. For Agilitas, this acquisition delivered control over quality, cost efficiencies, supply-chain reliability and speed to market—critical advantages in a category where performance and precision matter.
This manufacturing backbone gave Agilitas the confidence to move beyond licensing and distribution, and instead invest in building long-term brand equity.
Brand Engines: Lotto and one8
Agilitas strengthened its brand portfolio with the India license for Lotto, the iconic Italian sportswear brand, positioning it across footwear, apparel and accessories. The company has articulated a multi-channel growth strategy for Lotto, spanning mono-brand stores, multi-brand retail, e-commerce and omnichannel distribution.
Equally significant was the acquisition of one8, the performance-lifestyle brand co-created by Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli. Under Agilitas, one8 has transitioned from a licensed collaboration into a standalone brand, with Kohli continuing as an investor and co-creator. The brand is being repositioned with a sharper focus on performance, design and aspiration, with plans for exclusive retail presence in India and international markets in the future.
Together, Lotto and one8 represent complementary brand pillars—one rooted in global sports heritage, the other in athlete-led contemporary aspiration.
The Emerging Architecture of Sports Retail
India’s sportswear and athleisure market is at a clear inflection point. Rising health consciousness, increasing participation in organised and recreational sports, influence of global leagues and athletes, and the rapid expansion of modern retail and digital commerce have reshaped consumer expectations.
Large-format stores, e-commerce platforms and social media-led discovery are accelerating trial and adoption of new categories—from performance footwear and recovery gear to wearables and sport-inspired lifestyle apparel. Consumers today expect choice, value, authenticity and experience in equal measure.
SportsYard has been designed to respond to these shifts—offering scale, variety and value, while also creating an immersive environment where sport is experienced, not just shopped.
More Formats on the Cards
SportsYard is only the first expression of Agilitas’s retail ambitions.
The company is already working on a nationwide sneaker retail network, focused on full-price, curated assortments supported by seamless omnichannel capabilities. Alongside this, Agilitas plans to roll out exclusive brand stores for Lotto, one8 and future brands—formats that allow deeper storytelling, sharper merchandising and stronger brand identity.
Together, these initiatives point to a multi-format retail strategy engineered for speed, experience and scale, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Playing the Long Game
Backed by marquee investors and having raised over ₹600 crore to date, Agilitas has articulated ambitions to build a billion-dollar sports business over the long term. Yet its approach remains deliberate—assembling manufacturing strength, brand engines and retail capability in sequence before accelerating expansion.
With SportsYard now open, Agilitas has made its retail intent visible. More importantly, it has demonstrated how an Indian sportswear company can move beyond isolated brands and build a vertically integrated ecosystem capable of competing globally while remaining rooted in local consumer insight.
As India’s sportswear and athleisure story enters its next phase, SportsYard may well be remembered as the moment when Agilitas stepped fully into the retail game—and signalled that it intends to play it differently.
