BIRMINGHAM, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2025--
Aston Villa Football Club today officially opened its landmark retail store in Birmingham’s iconic Bullring shopping centre. This moment marks a bold step forward in the club’s continued commercial growth and ambition to position itself as a world-class organisation both on and off the pitch.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250521791264/en/
The new 10,000-square-foot, two-floor retail space is now welcoming avid fans and shoppers alike. Celebrating the occasion with the launch of the 2025/26 away kit, there was a series of prize draws offering fans the chance to win personal shopping sessions and exclusive merchandise. Shoppers were also greeted with a vibrant atmosphere including a live DJ and immersive photo opportunities.
Located next to Selfridges and alongside some of the UK’s most recognisable brands, the Aston Villa Bullring store showcases the full breadth of the club’s retail offering. This includes the newly revealed away kit, the full adidas x AVFC collection, training wear, lifestyle apparel, limited-edition releases, and an expansive range of adidas performance and Originals items. The opening also marks the debut of the ‘Aston Works’ customisation hub, where fans can personalise their purchases with bespoke designs.
“Today’s opening marks a major milestone in our retail journey and broader growth strategy,” David Asquith, Vice President of Retail at Aston Villa, said. “We’ve worked hard to create a space that is immersive and aspirational, going far beyond traditional retail to proudly reflect the culture and history of Aston Villa.”
“This store brings Aston Villa into the heart of Birmingham city centre in a bold and exciting way. It underlines our commitment to innovation, commercial excellence, and delivering memorable experiences for our fans. We’re thrilled and can’t wait to welcome more supporters to the Bullring store over the coming months and years to come.”
Paul O'Brien, Director of Leasing & Commercialisation at Hammerson, commented: “The opening of Aston Villa's store is an important milestone and an exciting addition for Bullring, acting as a prime example of Hammerson's dedication to quality brands and experiences at our best-in-class spaces. This flagship opening demonstrates our successful strategy of creating the right spaces for local and global brands alike, helping them reach a vast catchment while further enhancing Bullring's position as one of the UK's leading prime retail and leisure destinations.”
The Bullring store is set to become a central hub for the Claret and Blue faithful, as well as a destination for Birmingham’s wider community. With an integrated museum section designed to reflect the club’s 150-year heritage, immersive fan experiences are combined with a best-in-class retail offering, bringing a new dynamic space with the spirit of Villa Park to the heart of the city.
The store’s opening follows a week of anticipated events including a VIP preview with adidas guests and exclusive first-look content across AVFC channels. Further in-store activations will continue from 23–25 May.
Aston Villa is committed to fostering a workplace rooted in equality and diversity, and the Bullring store will reflect these values by providing an inclusive, welcoming environment for every staff member and visitor.
About Aston Villa Football Club
Founded in 1874, Aston Villa Football Club is a founding member of the Football League and a leading institution in the English game. One of only five English clubs to have been crowned champions of Europe, the team has historically enjoyed exceptional success domestically, including seven First Division Championships, seven FA Cup titles, and five Football League Cups.
A club of the future, AVFC is committed to innovating technologically, on and off the pitch, providing best in-class experience for fans and leading the football industry for best practice. United behind the club values of Pride, Passion and Purpose, Aston Villa Football Club continually thrives to push the boundaries of what a football club should be.
Aston Villa Football Club officially opens flagship store at Bullring Shopping Centre
NEW YORK (AP) — Ten years ago, Kim Gordon — a revolutionary force in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, the ’80s New York no wave scene and the space between art and noise — debuted solo music. At the time, she was already decades into a celebrated, mixed-medium creative career.
The midtempo “Murdered Out” was her first single, where clangorous, overdubbed guitars met the unmistakable rasp of her deadpan intonations. It was a surprise from an experimentalist well-versed in the unexpected: The song took inspiration from Los Angeles car culture, and its main collaborator was the producer Justin Raisen, then best known for his pop work with Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX. Their partnership has continued in the decade since, and on March 13, Gordon will drop her third solo album, “Play Me,” announced Wednesday alongside the release of a hazy, transcendent single, “Not Today.”
“It was a happy accident,” she says of her continued work with Raisen. “In the beginning, I was somewhat skeptical of working with a producer and collaborator, really. But it’s turned out to be incredibly freeing.”
“Play Me” follows Gordon's critically lauded, beat-heavy 2024 album “The Collective,” a noisy body of work that featured oddball trap blasts. It earned her two Grammy nominations — a career first — for alternative music album and alternative music performance. Those were for the song “Bye Bye,” with its eerie, dissonant beat originally written for rapper Playboi Carti. For “Play Me,” Gordon reimagined the track for the closer, “Bye Bye 25!” She says it was the result of her thinking about the rap world, where revisiting and remixing is commonplace.
“I came up with the idea of using these words that Trump had sort of ‘banned’ in his mind,” she says of the new song's lyrics. (An example: “Injustice / Opportunity / Dietary guidelines / Housing for the future.” President Donald Trump’s administration associates the terms with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which it has vowed to root out across the government.) For Gordon, because it became “more conceptual … the remake doesn’t seem as anxiety-provoking as the original.”
There is a connective spirit between “The Collective” and “Play Me” — a shared confrontation, propulsive production and songs that possess a keen ability to process and reflect the world around Gordon. “It does feel kind of like an evolution,” she says of this album next to her last. “It’s sort of a more focused record, and immediate.” The songs are shorter and attentive.
Or, to put it more simply: “I like beats and that inspires me more than melodies,” she says. “Beats and space.”
That palette drives “Play Me,” a foundation in which staccato lyricism transforms and offers astute criticism. Consider the title track, which challenges passive listening and the devaluation of music in the age of streaming. She names Spotify playlist titles, imagined genres defined by mood rather than music. “Rich popular girl / Villain mode” she speak-sings, “Jazz and background / Chillin' after work.”
“It's just representative of, you know, this era we're in, this culture of convenience,” she says. “Music always represented a certain amount of freedom to me, and it feels like that’s kind of been blanketed over.”
Sonically, it is a message delivered atop a '70s groove, placing it in conversation with an era unshackled from these digital technologies.
The title, too, “is playing off the sort of passive nature of listening to music,” she says, “But also it could be seen as defiant. Like, I dare you to play me.”
There's also the blown-out “Subcon,” which examines the world's growing billionaire class and their fascination with space colonialization in a period of economic insecurity. In the song, Gordon's lyrical abstractions highlight the absurdity, taking aim at technocrats.
“I find reality inspirational, no matter how bad it is,” she says. Where some artists might veer away from the news, Gordon tackles truth. “I’m not sure what music is supposed to be. So, I’m just doing my version of it.”
In the end, she hopes listeners are “somewhat thrilled by” the album.
“'This is the music that I’ve wanted to hear,’ kind of feeling. Does that sound egotistical? I don’t know,” she laughs. If it is, it is earned.
1. “Play Me”
2. “Girl with a Look”
3. “No Hands”
4. “Black Out”
5. “Dirty Tech”
6. “Not Today”
7. “Busy Bee”
8. “Square Jaw”
9. “Subcon”
10. “Post Empire”
11. “Nail Bitter”
12. “Bye Bye 25!”
Kim Gordon poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
Kim Gordon poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
Kim Gordon poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in New York (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
