FN rounds up all the store openings, closings and redesigns happening this month, from throughout the footwear industry. Send your retail news to [email protected].

April 24, 2023: Academy Sports and Outdoors will open its first location in Peoria, Ill. in the summer of 2023. This is Academy’s second location in Illinois which is set to open in Grand Prairie Plaza and will be over 60,000-square-feet. Academy’s new store will provide services like buy online pick-up in store and free shipping on most online orders over $25. Customers can also take advantage of a suite of in-store services, including free assembly on grills and bikes, fishing line winding/spooling, scope mounting, bore sighting, and the ability to purchase hunting and fishing licenses. This opening is part of Academy’s plans to continue its expansion efforts with the goal of opening 13 to 15 stores this year, and a total of 120 to 140 new stores by the end of 2027.

April 20, 2023: Louis Vuitton has opened its newly renovated store at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta, Ga. Situated on Level 3 and marking the maison’s largest standalone store in the region, the newly designed space offers a suite of Louis Vuitton’s métiers, including men’s and women’s accessories, fragrances, jewelry, leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes, travel and watches. A brand-new façade design of Epi glass is the first and only design found in the United States — carefully constructed of thick blocks of backlit glass embedded with stainless steel that is sculpted to mimic Louis Vuitton’s iconic Epi leather pattern. Upon entering, guests are welcomed by a petal ceiling installation composed of 300 organically shaped colored petals designed by Nami Sawada, a celebrated Japanese artist. Inside, various thoughtful and private VIC salons permit exclusive client shopping experiences, separated by large sliding doors made of translucent glass and Marcel Wanders mesh wood.

April 18, 2023: Australian footwear brand Frankie4 is continuing to expand its brand presence in North America with the opening of a retail pop-up at The Bellevue Collection in the Seattle-area town of Bellevue. Coming just eighteen months after opening a U.S. headquarters in Seattle and unveiling a pop-up on Capitol Hill, the brand will continue to grow with a 1,300-square-foot pop-up at 575 Bellevue Square set to open in mid-April. The space will showcase a curated selection of the brand’s footwear and will serve as a community hub for events including customer-led gatherings, beauty and fashion activations, philanthropic initiatives, private shopping nights, and more. To celebrate the grand opening, Frankie4 is offering free custom monogramming to the first 25 customers who buy a new pair of shoes during opening weekend. A variety of in-store activations are also planned to celebrate its opening month. Founded in Australia in 2011 and deeply rooted in the belief that women shouldn’t have to sacrifice comfort for style, the Frankie4 range focuses on the biomechanics of feet and includes sandals, sneakers, flats, heels, and boots, available in women’s size 6-13.

April 13, 2023: Veja‘s New York outpost just got a face lift. In March, the store underwent a renovation that lasted five weeks. The redesign aimed to increase space and seating while maintaining the original appearance, which includes its customized neon pieces by Brazilian artist Kleber Matheus. New aspects can be seen in concrete and reclaimed pine wood to upgrade the flooring and refurbish the space from Office JDY architects and the Veja team. The New York flagship originally opened in March 2020 at 205 Mulberry Street in the NoLita neighborhood. It’s minimalist and raw design was a collaboration with architect Paul Van Der Grient.

April 11, 2023: Palm Angels is accelerating its global retail expansion in the APAC region with the opening of the first boutique in Seoul, South Korea. According to the brand, the store has opened in partnership with Forward Global Fashion Co., Ltd. Located at 18-2, Dosan-daero 45-gil, Gangnam-gu, a well-known luxury shopping destination of the Korean capital, the new Palm Angels store spans 150 square meters (approximately 1,615 square feet) across two floors and showcases the brand’s menswear and womenswear collections alongside the kid’s line and accessories. The new store has been developed by the Palm Angels internal architects’ team, in tight collaboration with founder and CEO Francesco Ragazzi. The interior layout follows the recognizable design model of the brand, where collections are arranged on shelves and metal displays, as well as wooden cabinets highlighting signature pieces. “I am really thrilled about the Seoul opening and proud of this new brand milestone that inaugurates our partnership with Forward Global Fashion,” Ragazzi said in a statement. “The store tells the whole Palm Angels story as it perfectly embodies the emotions, inspirations, and values of the brand.”

April 11, 2023: Amiri has opened a pop-up and newly redesigned shop-in-shop located in London’s Selfridges department store. According to the Los Angeles-based brand, the shop highlights the spring/summer 2023 collection designed by creative director Mike Amiri and is centered around a monogram floor design. The store reimagines Amiri’s spring/summer 2023 runway and features the label’s ready-to-wear, bags, accessories and footwear, the brand added. And, starting on April 20, Amiri will take over one of Selfridges’ iconic windows, displaying this season’s hand-embellished Shrunken Bomber amongst a frozen scene of tumbling chairs.

April 10, 2023: Nordstrom announced plans on Monday to open a new Nordstrom Rack in Elk Grove, Calif. The 25,000 square-foot store will be located in The Ridge Elk Grove, a popular shopping center that includes other retailers such as Costco, Sephora, In-N-Out and Starbucks. With the addition of this new location, Nordstrom will operate 64 Nordstrom Rack stores, 23 Nordstrom stores, five Nordstrom Locals and one Asos | Nordstrom in California. The store is scheduled to open in spring 2024. “We look forward to opening this new Nordstrom Rack location in Elk Grove, strengthening our network of stores and introducing new customers to Nordstrom Rack’s unique product offering,” Carl Jenkins, SVP of Nordstrom Rack stores, said in a statement. “In addition to shopping great brands at great prices, our customers in Elk Grove can take full advantage of this convenient new location to pick-up online orders and make returns.”

April 6, 2023: Fendi has opened a new boutique in Düsseldorf, Germany. Located in Königsallee, the city’s popular fashion district, the 460-square-meter (4,950-square-foot) space offers the entire Fendi men’s and women’s collections across two levels. The new store features a double height ceiling emphasized by led arches, reminiscent of the façade of Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Fendi’s headquarters in Rome. To celebrate the boutique’s grand opening, Fendi has tapped Pepi Erdbories, a German contemporary artist represented by Baodt.Art Gallery, to customize a white canvas Peekaboo bag through her own vision of art. In addition, Fendi will display a special selection of Peekaboo bags designed by other famous international artists, designers and celebrities over the years including ones by Zaha Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Jerry Hall, Kate Adie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Georgia May Jagger, Naomie Harris and Tanya Ling.

April 5, 2023: Todd Snyder has opened his first Chicago retail location in Lincoln Park’s Armitage-Halsted Historic District. Called “The Townhouse,” Snyder’s new store at 815 W. Armitage Avenue is located on the ground floor of a Victorian Era brick townhome constructed in 1877, replete with pressed-metal cornices and original ornate window details. The space’s interior takes inspiration from Snyder’s famed location, The Liquor Store, a historic bar-turned-boutique menswear locale in NYC’s TriBeCa neighborhood which opened in 2019. Like The Liquor Store, The Townhouse will open you up to the world of Todd Snyder, serving as a hand-edited one-stop-shop for all your sartorial needs. Snyder’s full range of menswear items along with a hand curated selection of third-party brands and exclusive collaborations are available at the shop. Additionally, the store’s shoe shop will feature iconic brands like New Balance, Asics, Converse, Alden and more. Snyder said in a statement that his decision to expand to Chicago was a very strategic one for the brand and is part of a continued national expansion that began in 2022 after the brand announced plans to open 15 stores across major metropolitan markets. “Opening in Chicago is like a homecoming for me,” said Snyder. “Growing up in Iowa, Chicago was the ‘North Star’ of cities, and I quickly developed a love for the arts, architecture and of course, the retail it had to offer.