Retail Intel: Acne Studios Opens First Miami Store + 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 [email protected].
March 24, 2023: Acne Studios opened its first Miami, Fla. store in the heart of the Miami Design District last week. Located at 85 NE 41st Street, the new 200-square-meter (approximately 2,150-square-feet) store spans two floors and offers the label’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories and updated variations of its Musubi bag. Designed by Swedish firm Halleroed, notable features in the store include walls created in marmorino, a textured, high-gloss white plaster, with black granite steps, custom-made rugs by Swedish company Katshall and lighting by Benoît Lalloz. Nods to the Miami Art Deco style come through in details of settees and special mannequins created by artist Daniel Silver. Long-standing collaborator and furniture designer Max Lamb brought the softness via the coloristic accents in the seating. Organic and irregular shapes of the Blobs reference the unexpected quality of Acne Studios silhouettes from the spring/summer ‘23 collection, which Lamb reimagined in block shades of hand-dyed batik fabrics.
March 22, 2023: Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty is slated to open its first tri-state-area store at Roosevelt Field on Saturday, April 1. The new store is located on the upper level near the Dining District inside the Long Island, N.Y. mall and will offer an extensive assortment of accessibly-priced styles across lingerie, lounge, sleepwear and sport ranging in sizes, XS–4X/XS–XXXXL. According to the company, Savage X Fenty will host a two-day opening weekend celebration including a DJ, snacks, special giveaways and photo moments. Branded tote bags will be provided as a gift with purchases $75 and over (while supplies last), plus the opportunity for tote customizations. “We are excited to bring the Savage retail Xperience to the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area and invite a new region of customers to shop our collections IRL,” Christiane Pendarvis, co-president and chief design & merchandising officer at Savage X Fenty, said in a statement. “Our Roosevelt Field store will have a playful atmosphere – including upbeat music, colorful lights, and eye-catching decor – as well as other signature retail components like our next-gen Fit Xperience technology for optimal size matching.”
March 21, 2023: Tod’s has relocated its Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II store in the main passage linking the cathedral to the Teatro alla Scala. The two-level store is characterized by two shop windows overlooking the Gallery itself and by a wide staircase which is visible from the entrance and made entirely of travertine. The new location houses the Tod’s women’s and men’s collections.
March 20, 2023: The Italian brand Paris Texas, acquired just 15 days ago by the Arezzo&Co group, has opened pop-up stores at the NK Store in Jardins, São Paulo, and in Ipanema and Village Mall, in Rio de Janeiro. The pop-up stores will have a special scenography inspired by the main codes of Paris Texas; furniture with an Italian design mood, velvet curtains, and carpets in shades of pink and fuchsia translate the brand’s DNA, recognized for connecting the elegance and glamor of Paris to the spirit and strength of Texas in its footwear. In addition to the brick-and-mortar presence at NK Store São Paulo, NK Store Ipanema, and NK Store Village Mall, Paris Texas shoes will also be available on the multi-brand retailer’s e-commerce platform.
March 20, 2023: New York-based specialty retailer Blue & Cream has opened a seasonal pop-up shop at Maxwell’s Plum in Wellington, Fla. The Wellington location was selected as it is a huge destination with Blue & Cream’s core Hamptons customer base, who winter down in this area due to its equestrian community draw. Opened early March, the pop-up will offer a curated selection of Blue & Cream’s favorite retail brands, including P448 as its exclusive footwear partner. “After a huge 2022 year as a women’s authenticator account with Nike in which we have witnessed a falloff in demand for the over saturated GGDB, we turned to P448 to infuse energy into our head-to-toe styling offering when our clients want a higher price point artisanal shoe for night time styling,” Jeff Goldstein, founder & CEO of Blue & Cream, said in a statement.
March 15, 2023: Crosty, the designer sneaker brand founded by Georgian-born brothers Shota and George Mikaia, has officially opened its first U.S. e-commerce site. Starting with a limited number of pairs of the brand’s popular Onda sneaker, this launch will feature the shoe in 11 signature colorways. Founded in 2015, Crosty makes its shoes in Italy and is continuing its push into the U.S. market with this latest move.
March 15, 2023: Loro Piana celebrated the launch of its new traceability service and the opening of its first store in Palo Alto, Calif. on Wednesday, March 15. Located at 660 Stanford Shopping Center, the new Palo Alto boutique features the latest store concept from Loro Piana. For the opening, Gift of Kings sculptures made by Mary Lennox were on displayed throughout the space. To celebrate the store and launch and the brand’s traceability service, a special panel discussion was moderated by Gstaad Guy with Daniela Ott from Aura Blockchain, artist Charlotte Taylor, and Giulio Bergamaschi, Strategic Missions Director at Loro Piana. Timed with the opening, Loro Piana introduced a limited and numbered series of The Gift of Kings garments exclusive to the new Palo Alto store that upon purchase, will include a unique NFT created by artist Charlotte Taylor. Once purchased, customers will scan a QR code to verify the authenticity and traceability of the item’s origin, as well as view its unique story from farm to consumer through its digital certification service.
March 8, 2023: Atmos and New Balance have teamed up to create an elevated retail experience within the Atmos Georgetown store in Washington, D.C. Dubbed the NBSE — which is pronounced “The Embassy” and stands for “the New Balance Shop Experience” — the space will host events and be a hub for exclusive New Balance apparel and footwear. This partnership between Atmos and New Balance was described in a statement as “semi-permanent” and the retailer said shoppers can expect months of programming including DJs, personalization opportunities and conversations with local creatives. Atmos said in a statement that it will use the space celebrate the unofficial New Balance fan holiday Grey Day, as well as the Cherry Blossom Festival and other moments throughout the summer. The installation — designed in partnership with Colorway and Makingworks — was executed with maple wood, which Atmos said was designed as a nod its Japanese heritage, and also features custom lighting panels that will house both exclusive and classic New Balance footwear and apparel. It also includes a DJ booth and modular furniture to host presentations, movie screenings, panel discussions and more. Also, Atmos said the experience will feature a curated collection of vinyl records on display in partnership with a local record store that pays, homage to “the D.C. influence on music across genres.” The NBSE will open March 10 at 11 a.m. ET.
March 3, 2023: Ross Dress for Less will open its newest Texas store tomorrow. The new store, located in Paris, spans 18,000 square feet and is located in the Paris Towne Center, which is at the corner of Lamar Avenue and Loop 286. With the opening, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts operate more than 2,000 off-price apparel and home fashion stores.
March 2, 2023: Stüssy will open its newest store in Fukuoka, Japan on Friday. Located at 2-5-13 Tenjin, Chuo-Ku, Fukuoka-Shi, the store was conceptualized by Perron Roettinger, a design studio based in Los Angeles. According to Stüssy, this new location complements the design direction of the retailer’s other Shanghai, Nagoya, and Kyoto Chapter outposts. And, to commemorate the opening, there will be limited edition T-shirts in black, blue, red, and white with a crown on top of the brand name “S” and the letters “FUKUOKA.”