Glue Store is set to return to Australian shopping centres under new ownership, with Brand Collective announcing plans to open new locations and overhaul the youth fashion label's digital presence — just months after its abrupt and total shutdown left shoppers and staff in the lurch.
Brand Collective confirmed this week it had acquired Glue Store as part of a three-brand deal that also includes digital marketplace The DOM and Australian activewear label Running Bare. The group's chief executive, David Thomas, said the company saw "enormous potential across all three" businesses.
Glue Store relaunch: what we know so far
Brand Collective says the Glue Store relaunch will feature an updated brand assortment, an improved digital experience and new store locations, though the group has not yet disclosed exactly how many stores it intends to open or when the first will be operational. Further details are expected to be released in the coming months.
The relaunch will also give Glue Store access to Brand Collective's broader retail, ecommerce, marketing and operational capabilities — resources the brand lacked under its previous owner.
Glue was once one of Australia's most recognisable youth fashion retailers, operating around 33 stores at its peak. Its former owner, Accent Group, began pulling back in 2024, closing 17 locations to leave 16 stores open. The remaining stores were subsequently shut down entirely, along with the brand's online operation, after the business recorded an $8.4 million loss.
A broader strategy: multi-brand marketplace and digital expansion
The Glue Store revival is only one piece of a larger strategic play by Brand Collective. The acquisition of The DOM is central to the group's plans to establish a new multi-brand marketplace division.
The DOM previously operated as a digital platform connecting consumers with discounted and clearance stock from individual brands, with products shipped directly by the participating brands themselves. Brand Collective intends to transform this into a wider destination covering fashion, footwear and lifestyle products, drawing on its existing brand portfolio, supplier relationships and ecommerce expertise to offer products at what it describes as "great prices."
"The DOM brings an established digital marketplace platform to the Group," Thomas said, signalling that the acquisition is as much about building digital infrastructure as it is about any individual brand.
Running Bare to keep its identity
The third acquisition, Running Bare, will take a different path to the other two labels. Rather than a reinvention, Brand Collective says the activewear brand — which was founded in 1983 and has built more than four decades of heritage and a loyal following — will retain its distinct identity.
What changes is the level of support available to it. Running Bare will now have access to Brand Collective's retail, ecommerce, wholesale, marketing and operational capabilities, giving the brand a significantly stronger platform from which to grow.
"With more than four decades of heritage and a loyal customer following, Running Bare will retain its distinct identity while gaining access to the Group's broader retail, ecommerce, wholesale, marketing and operational capabilities," Thomas said.
What's next for Brand Collective
The three acquisitions mark a significant expansion for Brand Collective, which already manages a portfolio of major international and Australian brands. Thomas framed the deals as consistent with the company's broader ambitions.
"These acquisitions demonstrate Brand Collective's ongoing evolution and innovation as a business," he said.
For the many shoppers who followed Glue Store's sudden closure with disappointment, the news of a comeback will be welcome — though they will need to wait for specifics. Brand Collective has indicated that full details on the Glue Store relaunch timeline and store locations will be made public in the months ahead.
