Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.

History

In the 19th century, several members of the Lillywhite family were leading cricketers; another, Fred Lillywhite

Fred Lillywhite

Frederick Lillywhite was a sports outfitter and cricketing entrepreneur, who organised the first overseas cricket tour by an English team and published a number of reference works about cricket.-Cricketing dynasty:...

, organised the first overseas tour by an England team to North America in 1859. In 1866, the Lillywhite "No. 5" football was chosen for a London v. Sheffield challenge match organised by the Football Association; the same model in the early years of the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 and was the ancestor of the International Football Association Board

International Football Association Board

The International Football Association Board is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football.-Operations:...

's modern ball specifications. In 1886, the Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 chose the Lillywhite "No. J" as the standard for American college footballs.

The shop has been based at its current location of 25 Regent St. on Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...

 since 1925, catering to the London market with specialist departments for croquet

Croquet

Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...

 and real tennis

Real tennis

Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...

. Lillywhites' policy was to compete on quality products (which were charged at premium prices). For many years the company was owned by Forte Group

Forte Group

Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada PLC.-History:...

. Until 2002, Lillywhites also had locations in other major cities in the United Kingdom including Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, with the Leeds store being a very large five storey building that opened in 1996 on The Headrow

The Headrow

The Headrow is an avenue in Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. It holds many of the city's premier shopping, civic and cultural attractions including Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Central Library, Leeds Art Gallery, The Henry Moore Institute and The Light...

 in the former Schofields department store

Schofields (department store)

Schofields was a department store that operated on The Headrow in Leeds, England from 1901 to 1996. For much of the 20th century Schofields, alongside rival Lewis's, was regarded as being the pinnacle of shopping in Leeds city centre....

. In the same year, Lillywhites was bought by the Portuguese company Jerónimo Martins

Jerónimo Martins

Jerónimo Martins SGPS, SA is a Portugal-based company that operates in food distribution and consumer products manufacturing. The firm is the majority owner of Jerónimo Martins Retail , which operates the Pingo Doce super- and hypermarket chains in Portugal...

.

Sports World

In the face of competition from other retailers offering more goods at lower prices, Lillywhites fell into financial difficulty. In 2002 Jerónimo Martins sold the company to Sports World International, the owner of the Sports World

Sports World

SportsDirect.com is a British sporting goods retailer, the primary retail asset of Sports Direct International plc. The company was formerly known as Sports World and before that Sports Soccer, but since 2007 branches of the chain have been rebranded as SportsDirect.com, the domain name of its...

 retail chain, and some of the former outlying stores were rebranded as Sports World

Sports World

SportsDirect.com is a British sporting goods retailer, the primary retail asset of Sports Direct International plc. The company was formerly known as Sports World and before that Sports Soccer, but since 2007 branches of the chain have been rebranded as SportsDirect.com, the domain name of its...

. A number of exceptions to this are the branches at Rotherham Retail Park, Lakeside Shopping Centre

Lakeside Shopping Centre

The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London...

 in West Thurrock

West Thurrock

West Thurrock is a traditional Church of England parish and town in Thurrock, Essex, England, located 17.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross, London.-Location:...

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, Dalton Park

Dalton Park

Dalton Park is a shopping centre in Murton, County Durham. It is built on the site of the former colliery's slag heaps. It is the largest factory outlet style shopping centre in the North East, where branded goods are sold at discounted prices, usually discontinued lines of stock...

, Murton

Murton

-Places:*Murton, Cumbria, England*Murton, County Durham, England*Murton, Northumberland, England*Murton, Tyne and Wear, England*Murton, Swansea, Wales*Murton, York, England-People:*Matt Murton...

 and Clarks Village

Clarks Village

Clarks Village is a designer outlet shopping complex at Street in the English county of Somerset. The centre includes more than 90 shops. There are also coffee shops, refreshment stalls and a dining area shared by fast food chains , mostly selling goods at a discount to high street prices.It is...

, Street

Street

A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...

, Whiteley

Whiteley

Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...

 and The Glades, Bromley. The store in Leeds city centre was closed completely in 2004. The Lakeside branch was closed in 2010.

Floor Directory

6th floor No step-free access	5th floor	4th floor	3rd floor mezzanine	3rd floor
Sweatshop Boxing Fitness Swimwear (Men's & Boys) Swimwear (Ladies & girls) Rollerblades	Racket Sports Golf Cricket	Kids Footwear Sportswear	Field & Trek Outdoor Dept Ski	Women's Footwear Sportswear Women's changing rooms Bags
2nd floor	1st floor	Mezzanine floor	Ground floor	Lower Ground floor No step-free access from entrances
Football Rugby The Boot Room	Men's Fashion Jeans Mens Changing Room	Clearance	Men's Footwear Sportswear Headwear Luggage	Lonsdale