JD Sports Fashion will enter Mexico through a long-term franchise agreement with retailer Grupo Axo, which will operate the JD brand’s Mexican stores and e-commerce business from 2027.
Under the agreement announced by JD Sports, Axo is expected to operate more than 140 JD premises from 2027. The company will use its existing sneaker-store estate, with some locations expected to be enlarged and redesigned over time.
JD is supplying its brand, intellectual property, own-brand lines, and exclusive products. Axo will run the local stores and online operation. A franchise arrangement lets JD enter the market without owning the day-to-day Mexican retail operation itself.
Mexico becomes JD’s next North American market
The UK-listed retailer already operates in the United States and Canada. North America accounted for 38% of JD Group sales in the 52 weeks to January 31, 2026, according to the company.
Mexico is a new market for the JD brand. The company said its partnership with Axo is part of its strategy to expand the JD fascia internationally through local operators. JD and Courir, another group brand, currently have 75 franchise stores across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Grupo Axo says it operates more than 1,000 direct-to-consumer stores, 44 digital stores, and more than 7,500 wholesale corners across Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. Those figures describe Axo’s wider network, not JD’s planned Mexican estate.
The agreement is an expansion plan, not a sales result
The companies have not disclosed the financial terms, a revenue target, or the number of employees involved. The 140-plus premises are scheduled to begin operating in 2027, so the announcement does not yet show how Mexican customers will respond to the JD offer.
JD said Mexico’s activewear market was worth about $6.5 billion and could exceed $10 billion by 2034, citing IMARC. That is a market-research estimate quoted by JD, rather than a forecast issued by the retailer itself.
The commercial test will be whether Grupo Axo can use its local retail base and e-commerce operation to make the international brand relevant in a market where footwear, apparel, and sport fashion are already well served by domestic and global competitors.
