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Small business

August 4, 2025

 

A store of one’s own: Women athletes score a shopping nirvana in London

Sports stores weren’t interested in Laura Youngson’s cleats made specifically for women. So she opened her own.

Laura Youngson wears a SOOO T-shirt inside the SOOO pop-up with clothing racks and displays in the background.

Athlete and entrepreneur Laura Youngson opened a pop-up on London's Regent Street featuring small businesses that cater to female athletes. (Photo credit: Amy Hunter Photography)

Aimee Levitt

Contributor

In 2017, Laura Youngson organized a group of women to travel to Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, to set a world record for the highest-ever altitude game of soccer. It was a thrilling experience, but afterward, everyone’s feet hurt — largely because, in the absence of cleats made for women, they were stuck wearing poorly-fitting shoes designed for men or children.

“This is dumb,” thought Youngson, a British entrepreneur and lifelong athlete. “I’m an adult female.” The following year, she founded IDA Sports, a company that manufactures soccer cleats exclusively for women and girls.

But Youngson found that store buyers were uninterested in stocking equipment specifically designed for women’s bodies. They were not impressed that she had proven success producing women’s athletic shoes, nor were they swayed by her lived experience as co-founder of Equal Playing Field, a global nonprofit that challenges gender inequality in sports. And, most frustrating of all, few seemed to care about mounting evidence that women’s sports were capturing the hearts of fans worldwide.

She began to imagine starting her own sports store just for women. “It would be less like the sports stores that you perhaps don’t feel you belong in,” she explains, “and more like you can walk in and feel like you’re meant to play this sport.”

The opportunity to transform her dream into reality presented itself earlier this year when  Westminster Council in London launched a contest for up-and-coming brands to propose retail concepts. The winner would receive funding to open a popup version of their store. Mastercard, a longstanding supporter of both women’s sport in the U.K. and small businesses worldwide, helped

Youngson and her team at IDA draw up a plan for Style of Our Own, or SOOO. 

 

Woman's sneakers dangle from a display.

IDA Sports' women's cleats at SOOO. (Photo credit: Amy Hunter Photography)

Women’s participation in sports is surging, and interest from fans is growing, from record viewership of WNBA games to individual breakout stars like basketball’s Caitlin Clark and rugby player Ilona Maher to the expansion of women’s leagues globally in cricket, rugby and volleyball.

“The store is about more than selling gear — it’s about building a community around women’s sport, championing the enthusiasm of athletes and supporters and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs,” says Mastercard’s Charlie Carrington, senior vice president for Marketing and Communications for the U.K. and Ireland.

In April, Youngson’s team received the good news that they’d won, beating out more than 1,000 other entries. The bad news: They had eight weeks to open a store and they didn’t even have a space.

“It was one of those life-changing moments where you’re like, ‘Do we take it? This is crazy,’” Youngson remembers.

Fortunately, things quickly fell into place when the Crown Estate, one of Britain’s largest landlords, offered up an 8,000 square-foot space rent-free at 245 Regent Street, in the middle of London’s premier shopping district (right next door to the Apple Store).

They were also blessed by fortuitous timing: This summer happens to be the unofficial Summer of Women in Sport in the U.K., a celebration bathed in the afterglow of the women’s national soccer team — aka the Lionesses — winning the European championship in 2022 and ending a long drought for British soccer, both men’s and women’s. In addition, last year’s Olympics and this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, hosted by England, has spawned a newfound fascination with women’s rugby. No wonder nearly 30 female business owners reached out to Youngson about participating almost immediately after she announced the launch of SOOO.

 

“It would be less like the sports stores that you perhaps don’t feel you belong in, and more like you can walk in and feel like you’re meant to play this sport.”

Laura Youngson

 

And, as the consummate savvy retailer, Youngson opened her doors in early June, fully stocked with official Lionesses shirts released the day before. A heat press machine was installed so shoppers could add the name of their favorite player. There are also customizable jerseys for other women’s teams from around the world.

“So often if you go and ask for a shirt, they just look at you like, ‘Leah Williamson who?’” says Youngson. (Hint: Williamson plays for women’s Arsenal and is the captain of the Lionesses.)

The store isn’t just for fans, though. It’s also for athletes of all kinds — whether it’s kids who are just learning, teenagers trying to up their game or older women who want to get reacquainted with sports and be part of a community. It stocks equipment designed for women’s bodies for a range of sports, including rugby, soccer, cricket, basketball and running. There’s even a ten-by-six meter pitch at the back of the store for shoppers to test it all out. Crucially, it also sells undergarments like sports bras and period underwear so women can play in comfort.

In its first month, Youngson says, SOOO has drawn 1,500 customers per day. Many come to shop, but they’re also drawn by events such as watch parties, fitness classes, lectures explaining the rules of cricket and special guests, like a nail artist who paints motorsport-inspired designs.

SOOO is slated to close in mid-October, but Youngson hopes she’ll be able to revive it in some other form. After all, she has witnessed herself just how much women need it.

“When you watch people walk through the space of the store, they get this sense of relief,” she says. “You see them visibly think, ‘Ah, I’ve found a place.’”