Glue Store, Australia's streetwear fixture for 27 years, closes all 16 stores

Glue Store was founded in Melbourne in 1998 by retail entrepreneur Hilton Seskin, the man behind Rebel Sport, and grew into one of Australia's go-to chains for streetwear, sneakers and youth fashion — Nike, Adidas, Ksubi, Thrills, New Balance and Birkenstock among the labels on its walls. At its peak it ran more than 30 stores nationwide, a staple of Australian shopping centres for nearly three decades.

Ownership changed hands as the format weakened. UK-based JD Sports Fashion sold the chain to ASX-listed Accent Group in 2021 for roughly A$13 million, when it had 21 stores. The new owner tried shrinking its way to health: in mid-2024 Accent closed 17 underperforming Glue stores over lacklustre sales. It did not work. In the first half of the 2026 financial year, Glue recorded an A$8.4 million EBIT loss, including closure provisions.

On February 26, 2026, Accent Group announced it was exiting the Glue Store business entirely: the remaining 16 stores would all be closed or sold by the end of the financial year, with clearance sales of 30 per cent off already-discounted stock. One insider told the Daily Mail that repeated resource cuts had hollowed the chain out long before the end. Accent said it would focus on its more profitable global brands — rolling out Sports Direct and opening Lacoste stores instead.