NEWS

The Galatasaray Sports Club, which has signed off on many pioneering initiatives in various fields, is creating an unusual category with the brand new GSStore shopping and entertainment center, unique for being the first of its kind in Türkiye and Europe. The center, which was opened with a ceremony at the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex on Tuesday February 7 by Galatasaray Sports Club President Ünal Aysal, Nike Türkiye General Manager Matthijs W. Visch and Yıldız Holding Assistant Board of Directors Chairman Ali Ülker, is creating a distinction in the field with its unique concept. The underlying basis of this new concept that makes the center unique is due to several factors such as the unique shopping center design created through cooperation with Nike, Galatasaray Football Team Sponsor and the largest sports equipment company in the world, as well as the Ülker Fanzone interactive entertainment center created withcooperation with Nike the support of Ülker and expected to draw a lot of attention with the latest Sony brand products. With all of these features, the GSStore aims to become a new concept shopping and entertainment center that is shown great interest by fans every day of the week.

The store, which has ground level sales areas and the Ülker Fanzone interactive entertainment and sales area on the upper floor, has an area of 1,650 square meters total containing one escalator and a static staircase with a special elevator for handicapped fans. There are also special stalls and toilets in the bathrooms for handicapped fans.

Nike’s contributions in the areas of architectural service and retail space formed one of the most significant building blocks that were effective in bringing this project, which was designed in harmony with the Türk Telekom Arena by the Galatasaray Sports Club Architectural Project Group, to life. The store created through the detailed, fastidious work of the Nike architecture crew, which has created the design and decoration of some of the world’s foremost sports club stores, is Türkiye’s largest sports club store in terms of area and capacity. The product display units that were created by Nike with inspiration from the locker rooms of football players take their place in the sales area as the first examples of a unique and creative concept. The “Players Lounge,” a unique football concept application created for the location by the Nike Design and Architecture Crew, which has a signature on many successful projects in both the national and international arena, forms one of the most special areas in the store. In addition to the five uniform printing machines that are located on the entry level, the special stitching machine, which can only be found in a limited number of Nike stores used to stitch names and numbers onto Nike football shoes that have been purchased by fans, draws attention as the store’s greatest innovation.

One of the most important factors that will add a unique feature to the GSStore is the Ülker Fanzone which is the first of its kind with the support of Ülker. With a capacity of 60 people and created with the nostalgia of the Ali Sami Yen stadium, Ülker Fanzone carries significance as a platform where the world of Galatasaray will meet with fans.  A variety of communication activities are being planned at the Ülker Fanzone to bring fans and Galatasaray together throughout the year, like conversation days with star Galatasaray players, new transfer signature ceremonies and press meetings.

In the interactive sections with the latest technology products provided by Sony to create an environment where fans can experience the feeling of being in the World of Galatasaray, there are smart big screen televisions, three dimensional laptops, touch screen computers, PlayStation and a three dimensional projector and pull-down screen.

JBL and Harmon Kardon products have been used in the sound system of the store created with the electrical support of Türkiye’s most important brand, AKUSTA, to become a center of technology. One of the additional features that draw the most interest in the GSStore is that the technical infrastructure has been prepared so the GS TV can be broadcasted without interruption.

Also, in the upper floor section there are open offices of powerful Galatasaray brands preferred by fans such as GS Mobile, GS Bonus, GS Sigorta HDI and GSNET. In these offices where fans can be kept up to date on all offers and campaigns provided by whichever Galatasaray services they choose. Many activities and projects are being planned to be included where Galatasaray brands can meet up with fans.

In addition to all of these, the upper floor GSStore special photograph section offers a unique opportunity provided by the cooperation with the Magic Pictures company, in which ‘green box’ technology is used to place Galatasaray fans in a picture with a backdrop of their favorite football player, creating pictures in which they can appear to be taking part in some of the most special moments and locations experienced by the players.

Our store which has a wide scale of products offers a variety of textiles created is GSStore designs and many other products each more appealing than the last, from stationary to toys, home fabrics to slippers, gift items to personal care products and  Ali Sami Yen souvenir items. Nike’s Galatasaray brand designs and solo Nike products can be found in the store and other non-football Galatasaray Sport Club products of other technical sponsors such volleyball and basketball products are available to fans.

The new GSStore and Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex which have brought a whole new concept to the Store and retailing sector, is expected to become a location frequently visited by fans and sports lovers alike in the days to come.

Yıldız Holding Assistant Chairman of the Board of Directors Ali Ülker: “OUR SUPPORT CONTINUES”

Yıldız Holding Assistant Chairman of the Board of Directors Ali Ülker emphasized the significance of the collaboration with the Galatasaray club which started in 2005 by saying, “As it is in the rest of the world, football is also one of the most popular branch of sports, that draws the interest of the masses in Türkiye. In our day, it is very important to create mutual areas with fans, provide support for favored teams and players and be able to form emotional bonds with them. As Ülker, we are signing off on a variety of projects the Galatasaray Sports Club for which we have been supporting the basketball team for 5 years and the football team for 7 years and continue to provide support. In the 90’s we contributed to the building of the GS infrastructure school and we gave our name to the east stands of the TT Arena. Now we are very pleased to be a part of the opening of this facility including the Ülker Fanzone, which we believe will become a frequent meeting point of Galatasaray fans and where we will be involved in the organization of many different attention grabbing activities. We wish for this increasing collaboration, between the two most rooted companies of Türkiye that have signed off on many firsts, to be productive and hope to be able to multiply the happy moments shared by the fans and the club.”

Ülker Fanzone, the first of its kind to be supported by Ülker, has a seating capacity of 60 and has been created with the nostalgia of Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Ülker Fanzone is very significant as a platform where the world of Galatasaray can meet with fans and open out into the world. At the Ülker Fanzone, where many organizations such as conversation days with players, new transfer signature ceremonies, sponsorship agreements and press meetings will be held, a variety of activities have been planned throughout the year for fans.