Retail Intel: Rally House Will Expand Its Ohio Footprint With a Columbus Store in Early 2023 + More News
FN rounds up all the store openings, closings and redesigns happening this month, from throughout the footwear industry. Send your retail news to web@footwearnews.com.
Dec. 29, 2022: Rally House will expand its footprint in Ohio with a new Columbus store in early 2023. Inside the new location, Rally House Graceland, the retailer said it will offer localized merchandise and sports apparel for Ohio State University, the MLS team Columbus Crew, the Columbus Bluejackets of the NHL, as well as other pro and college teams. The Columbus-inspired products and sports apparel will include items from ’47, New Era, Nike, Mitchell & Ness and more. Rally House currently has more than 140 locations across 14 states.
Dec. 27, 2022: Secondhand retailer 2nd Street USA is continuing its expansion across the country. The retailer announced on Monday that it opened a new location in Dallas, Texas earlier this month, with plans to open another in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 7. Located at 2816 Main St. in the Deep Ellum neighborhood in Dallas, the 4,839-square-foot store features approximately 12,000 items for reuse, including men’s and women’s clothing, handbags, shoes, and accessories. It’s upcoming 6,476-square-foot Frisco store will open at 3333 Preston Road inside the Preston Ridge shopping mall and will offer around 15,000 secondhand items. After opening its first store in Melrose, Calif. in Los Angeles County in January 2018, the retailer has expanded to 18 different locations. 2nd Street Frisco will be the 12 location in the United States.
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Dec. 20, 2022: Adidas Terrex has opened its first-ever North American retail pop-up store, located in the Pearl District of downtown Portland, Ore. The door — which spans 3,842 square feet and is located at 1411-1435 NW Flanders St. — is open now and will remain open through May 2023. To celebrate, Adidas Terrex held a grand opening celebration at the start of the month with media members and the wider community featuring live music, a happy hour and surprise giveaways. Inside the store, consumers can find a selection of the brand’s snow, hike, trail run and mountain bike footwear, as well as apparel and accessories. What’s more, Adidas Terrex said via statement that it will host curated programming in the store’s dedicated activation space that includes film screenings, happy hours, panel discussions and skill-building workshops with local partners.
Dec. 20, 2022: Skechers has opened a new flagship store in Dublin, Ireland, adding to its four other stores in the the city. The 929-square-meter location will carry an assortment of shoes, accessories and a performance shop. “Millions of Ireland’s locals and tourists know and love Skechers’ renowned technologies, and Skechers is making it easier than ever to enjoy more comfort through its footwear and apparel,” said Peter Youell, managing director for Skechers in the UK and Ireland.
Dec. 19, 2022: Zadig & Voltaire has opened the doors to its U.S. flagship. Located at 845 Madison Avenue in New York City, the 3,300-square-foot location takes over the previous Tom Ford store. Designed in collaboration with architecture practice Stephan Weimar NYC and design firm Rigos Mills, the new flagship in envisioned a s a multi-room exhibition space. Rigos Mills pulled inspiration from Zadig & Voltaire owner Thierry Gillier’s Paris-based hotel Chateau Voltaire, which opened in 2021, leveraging the hotel’s play on modern and classic details. The flagship’s shoe display and chandelier take inspiration from artist Giacometti, while the velvet couch in the dedicated leather goods area is from Belgian designer St Vincent. This is the fourth boutique opened by the French brand in Manhattan, joining a fleet of 25 standalone stores in North America and 350 globally. In 2023, Zadig & Voltaire said it plans to continue to expand its retail footprint with new doors opening in TriBeCa in New York City, American Dream Mall in New Jersey and Studio City in Los Angeles.
Dec. 13, 2022: Dolce Vita has inked a new lease for a 3,165-square-foot store in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Located on the corner of Broadway and Broome Streets at 489 Broadway, the store features 95 feet of wraparound frontage on a corner lot formerly occupied by home and body cosmetics brand Rituals. The new store will occupy the ground floor and lower levels and will open in 2023, according to a press release by real estate firm Newmark Retail. “We continue to see a surge in demand for retail space in SoHo, specifically on Broadway,” Newmark’s vice chairman Ariel Schuster said in a statement. “This transaction further illustrates that many brands seek out space in this highly trafficked corridor to establish their footprint and reach consumers.”
Dec. 12, 2022: Western footwear brand Old Gringo has opened its first-ever flagship store in Fort Worth, Texas. Located at 140 E Exchange Ave within the northeast corner of the historic Stockyards Station, the retail shop features over 100 styles of Old Gringo’s boots including in-store exclusives. Within its mixed-use three-floor space, future plans also include the very first Old Gringo Grill, specializing in fresh seafood with a wood-fired grill and large covered balcony. Founded in 2000 by Ernie Tarut and Yan Ferry, Old Gringo is also expanding its offerings to include original apparel such as handbags, belts, jackets, and custom hats which are available for purchase in the new store. Inside, guests can expect an ode to Fort Worth’s rich history including modern Western displays and a cozy bar as well as a covered patio to take in the city’s twice-daily cattle drive. Originally headquartered in San Diego, Calif., the brand-new Cowtown location as well as the move of its corporate business signals the store’s commitment to growing within the heart of Texas.
Dec. 9, 2022: Lids has revealed its newest retail concept, dubbed Lids Hat Drop, which the retailer said is the brick-and-mortar iteration of its LidsHatDrop.com platform that launched this year. The first store is in New York, located in Jamaica, Queens at 168-05 Jamaica Avenue. Inside, consumers will see a mural created by New York artist Timothy Goodman. Lids said in a statement that it will honor Jamaica’s “rich history of hat culture” through a community-driven approach to headwear releases and store programming. The Lids Hat Drop store, the retailer explained, will operate similarly to its ecommerce counterpart with exclusive and limited-edition releases, such as athlete and celebrity collaborations “that stay true to the neighborhood” and collections with designers and influencers. Also, the store’s consumers will have first access to buy exclusive hat drops beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Fridays before the drop on the ecommerce platform at 12 p.m. ET that same day. The store, Lids said, will also drop new releases every Friday, including “Queens Store Exclusives” that are only available in this location.
Dec. 8, 2022: Showfields has expanded its retail footprint with a new location in Washington, D.C. Located at 3077 M Street NW in the city’s Georgetown neighborhood, the experiential retailer now occupies the former Brooks Brothers store. The store flow follows the brand’s House of Showfields concept – as seen in House of Showfields Brooklyn which opened in November 2022. The three story space is organized into departments, each representing a room of a house. Over seventy brands are featured, with more to come throughout the curation. For those shopping fashion and accessories – the offering includes industry-disrupting tights brand Sheertex, luxe French footwear brand Clergerie and bold women’s apparel from emerging brand Dayra, among others. “We re-used a lot of the existing infrastructure of the previous store – for us it was important to re-utilize and re-work as much as possible while introducing DC to our signature aesthetic,” said Showfields CEO and co-founder Tal Zvi Nathanel.
Dec. 7, 2022: The Sajdak family is transitioning its two New Balance Milwaukee stores into multibrand specialty running shops, which will stock a variety of performance footwear from New Balance, as well as other top names including Hoka, On, Brooks, Altra and more. It also will offer Oofos recovery shoes, socks from Feetures and other popular items for athletes. The stores are being rebranded as Goodmiles Running Company, effective Jan. 2, 2023. Marketing director Megan Sajdak said in a statement, “For over 20 years we have strongly endorsed New Balance shoes and apparel with New Balance Stores, and we will continue to at Goodmiles Running Company. But research and technology has really expanded the running shoe industry and we want to be able to offer more top-tier brands to Milwaukee’s running and walking fans, in addition to our New Balance shoe options.” The specialty shops will engage the community by hosting fun runs and organizing running and walking groups.
Dec. 6, 2022: Amiri has opened its third international store, this time in Dubai. Located inside the Dubai Mall, Fashion Avenue, the Los Angeles-based fashion brand teamed up with United Arab Emirates local retail partner SOHO Middle East for the project. Spanning 3,500 square feet, the space continues founder and creative director Mike Amiri’s partnership with Paris-based design studio NOCOD. The store’s gallery-like environment features walnut wood, paloma stone, marble and stainless steel, which are complimented and contrasted by warm, soft lounge spaces. Exhibited in store is a site-specific artwork by California-born, Detroit-based artist Jason Revok, titled, “Spiro_Sm_flr/W_flr/BI_9/22_2a,” composed of synthetic polymer and acrylic spray paint on a shaped canvas. Stocking the full range of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections, accessories, footwear and leather goods. Amiri Dubai will offer an exclusive ‘Dubai Palm Tree’ capsule. Consisting of silk shirts and shorts, a tee, hoodie, jersey shorts and hat, pieces are decorated with a new hand-painted botanical illustration, inspired by the Date Palma.
Dec. 5, 2022: Zegna has opened a new boutique in Palm Beach, Fla. Located at 216 Worth Avenue, the single-floor store features the new design identity under the artistic direction of Alessandro Sartori and his creative team. Customers can now discover Zegna’s iconic Triple Stitch Sneakers, a global success for the Maison, signature luxury leisurewear and more in an oceanside environment with a stylish resort focus. Zegna is also pledging to support the local Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach and the Restoring The Gold Coast Program. Over the next 5 years, the contribution will go towards restoring and refurbishing the community park with efforts in tree planting, building educational facilities, and establishing outdoor areas that will house interactive workshops and new programs focused on dune restoration and plant propagation.
Dec. 5, 2022: California-based shoe brand SeaVees has opened another store in California, its third in the state. Its new door is in Mill Valley, located at 242 Shoreline Highway. The store will stock the brand’s casual sneakers, boots and slippers, as well as apparel and home goods from what SeaVees described as “like-minded, responsible brands.” Also, consumers will see a large mural of the Bay Area by artist Daniella Manini painted on the front of the building. The other two SeaVees retail locations in California are in Santa Barbara and Newport Beach.