gement and storytelling.  The synergy between basketball and retail has already been proven on the global stage, with successful tie-ups between Nike and Michael Jordan and, more recently, Coach and the WNBA. But now the founders of Courtside, Chris Fifer, Chris Moore and Anthony Hoffman are eager to show how that translates to an Australian retail setting. It starts with the players Hoffman told Inside Retail that experiential retail offerings sometimes struggle to live up to consumers’ expectations because they need to have authenticity and be purposeful.  That is why Courtside is leveraging the star power of NBA players Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey, who are also investors in the Melbourne location. Moreover, one of its founders, Moore, is the owner of Australia’s most advanced basketball training academy, Hoop City. Courtside’s brand offering is impressive. Nike, Jordan, Adidas and Puma are just some of the heavyweight brands that have signed on to be part of the Courtside project.  “The major connector in all this was when we presented to them, we said, ‘Come and tell your basketball story through the product by the way you show up in our space,’” Hoffman shared. “There are no restrictions here, this is all about storytelling, and that’s what a lot of the brands have done. They’ve come in and they’re telling a story,” he continued. “It’s really exciting, it’s new, it’s refreshing, it’s interesting. And I think that’s what’s going to really make the success of the space.” Courtside was three years in the making and required all of the above stakeholders to make it viable, but it almost fell over at the first hurdle, securing the right lease. “Initially, we started with a location at Docklands in Melbourne, and I think the guys at Docklands probably didn’t quite have the vision that we had, and that sort of fizzled out a little bit,” Hoffman revealed. “It actually probably spurred us on, our determination to find the right location,” he added. Eventually, Courtside found its home in Port Melbourne with Goodman, a global warehouse and industrial property developer. With the combination of experienced founders, star player investors, industry-leading brands and the right real estate, Hoffman believes Courtside is not only slated for local success but global. Unlocking global potential  The next Courtside opening might not even be in Australia; its founders already have their sights set on international expansion. The Melbourne Courtside location is being marketed as “01” with the intention that the next location will be “02”. “We definitely see strength in the idea of taking Courtside global,” Hoffman stated. “With Melbourne, we’ve got two incredible star players that are part of the leadership group. They’re directors and part of the business,” he elaborated. “We see that opportunity of taking it to another country and doing a similar thing and bringing on star players to be involved – so it really feels like it’s authenticated from day one.” Hoffman describes Courtside as destination shopping or a destination experience, meaning consumers have to travel to get there.  “In the future, I could clearly see it being connected to a shopping centre in some way, maybe here [in Australia] or it might happen in an overseas location,” he said. In the meantime, Courtside 01 is focussed on drawing in the local basketball community, implementing its loyalty program, hosting community events and adding another court.  “We’re working on a secret plan for a court on top of the roof of the building to get a view of Melbourne. So that’s our stage two dream for this,” Hoffman concluded.