Two new sporting gear shops have opened in the new phase of the Washington Mall.The International Sports Shop, formerly a fixture on Bermudiana Road, has opened its doors on the second floor of the new wing of the Mall and The Booth’s “Pop-Up” store, selling woman’s exercise clothing, has opened downstairs.The International Sports Shop, which moved from its old premises in the hopes of capturing more foot traffic, opened last week and so far, the move has been a positive one.“We’ve been busy over here,” said long-time employee Tina Brangman. “The foot traffic is much better than the other location. It’s convenient for people.”Tim Trott, the shop’s second full-time employee added: “People like that the store is very central; we see a wider range of customers as well as tourists now where we wouldn’t normally have seen that.”This year the International Sports Shop is looking to hone in on a niche of the sporting goods market; moving away from casual athletic clothes to focus on top line sporting equipment such as cricket bats, treadmills, yoga mats as well as karate kits, table games and darts. They also specialise in custom-made jerseys, uniforms and tracksuits for sport clubs and schools.“We’re not going to try and compete with a Gibbons or Boyle’s that have a bigger store and bigger budget for casual athletic clothing and shoes,” said owner Brian Purvey in January, who added that their store will still carry football boots and gear. The store will be open from 9am to 5pm, Monday-Saturday.Downstairs in the Washington Mall, surf and board clothing shop The Booth has opened a “pop-up” store directly next door selling women’s exercise gear, featuring brands like North Face, Kelly Hansen and Puma.The new store opened this week and is on a one-month trial run, with the owner testing the waters to see if the shop will catch on.“It’s an experiment the merchandise was doing quite well in our main store so I wanted to see if it would be viable on its own,” said owner Darren Booth. “If it works out, I would like to bring in athletic shoes and bags but it all depends.”Mr Booth added that he was interested in opening a store like the American brand, Lady Foot Locker, but need to make sure there was enough interest.A few months ago, Mr Booth tried another “pop-up” store in the same space selling high-end luggage, which didn’t generate enough income to keep the shop.This time, Mr Booth is hoping for a better outcome.“I read that people exercise more during a recession and we’re certainly in one so that’s why I decided to try it,” he said.The store will be open for the month of April, operating from 11am-4pm, Monday through Saturday.“If people want to see more of this kind of thing in Bermuda,” said Mr Booth. “Then come check us out.”