News roundup--Sports Direct, SuperGroup, more

Sports Direct has taken the majority stake in loss-making Flannels, a retailer of designer clothing. The acquisition follows Sports Direct’s buyout of USC and Cruise last year. As with the other recently acquired brands, writes the Financial Times, Flannels will continue to be run separately.

SuperGroup is axing Cult fascia and rebranding its 20 Cult stores under the Superdry name. The rebranding process will be completed ahead of the Christmas trading period.  Third-party stock will be liquidated via the company’s off-price channels, such as outlet stores, eBay and trade partners.

Shop Direct-owned Littlewoods has announced its second TV sponsorship deal in a week. This latest agreement with ITV Commercial sees Littlewoods sponsor ITV1’s daytime format Let’s Do Lunch…with Gino & Mel in a package conceived in partnership with Carat. The package includes broadcast, online and mobile sponsorship and kicks off on Monday, 16th July 2012. Myleene Klass, who was recently announced as brand ambassador for Littlewoods, will feature in the idents in her new collection. Ruth Jones has also been confirmed as the voice artist for the idents, which have been created by St Luke’s, and will feature the strapline “making lunch more glamorous … that’s the Littlewoods touch”.

Sir Philip Green, owner of the retail group Arcadia, is to launch the Topshop and Topman brands into 14 Nordstrom department stores in the US from September, reports the Independent.