The Hudson Group has introduced Intersport to Malta, opening the brand’s first store in Tower Road, Sliema. It says the next move will be the transformation of several of Hudson’s other sports stores operating under the Go Sport and House of Sport banners to Intersport.

Available at the 550-square-metre outlet are some of the top sport brands including Nike, Champion, Under Armour, Tommy Sport, Columbia, New Balance, Helly Hansen, Tommy Hilfiger, Asics, Vibram and Timberland. Jordan and Converse are also available for children.

In line with Hudson’s innovation streak, the store has a foot scanner powered by Volumental, the first of its kind in Malta. It digitises the customers’ foot proportions and suggest the right shoe and size available within the store. Hudson notes that 50 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men buy shoes with the wrong fit. The readings can be sent to clients via email for their own future purchasing convenience.

The first pair of Nike was sold in Malta in 1987 and Hudson has since opened a variety of sport stores including Nike, and Urban Jungle as well as fashion brands like Ted Baker, Kiabi, New Look, and River Island.

Hudson’s head office is in Malta, though it is also present in Italy, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It is the official Nike distributor in various parts of Africa.

Intersport commenced operations in the 1960s and, today, its 65,000 employees help more than 650,000 customers every day across more than 44 countries. Interacting with consumers both on and offline 24/7, it generates annual retail sales of €11.5 billion.