Dive Brief:
- Continuing its physical store expansion, Birkenstock Americas has opened its fourth retail storefront in Larkspur, California in Marin County, the brand announced on Tuesday. The retailer has other locations in New York City and Venice Beach, California.
- The space will sell various products for men, women and children, such as shoes, sneakers, clogs, socks and boots. The location will also have a curated selection of limited-edition designer collaboration products, per the press release shared with Retail Dive.
- The retailer partnered with Marin-based artist Leo Bersamina and local illustrator Kevin Mirsky to create art for the space, according to the announcement.
Dive Insight:
The brand chose the Marin County location in honor of Margot Fraser, the Bay Area resident who discovered Birkenstock during a 1966 trip to Germany and subsequently brought the brand to the U.S. Today, Birkenstock manufactures its products in Germany and is sold in more than 100 countries, per the press release.
“Birkenstock first landed in the San Francisco Bay Area over fifty years ago and our footprint has been planted in Marin for decades. We have searched for many years to find the perfect location in Marin so opening at the Country Mart is an exciting next phase of our history in the area. We are thrilled to welcome brand fans into our new home,” David Kahan, managing director of Birkenstock Americas, said in a statement.
The Marin County store opening follows the first U.S. store debut in 2018. At the time, the brand had limited edition products from its collaborations with designers like Rick Owens and 10 Corso Como, alongside its other shoes, boots, socks and other products for women, men and children. Like Levi’s and others, Birkenstock is a decades-old brand long dependent on wholesale that is now growing its direct-to-consumer sales. Kahan has discussed the need to find the right balance of DTC and wholesale.
The latest store opening also follows an international marketing campaign dubbed "Ugly For A Reason." The company tapped The New York Times' T Brand Studio to create a multi-part documentary series, part of which talks about the evolution of feet.
Before its international expansion, the company agreed to sell a majority stake of its stocks to El Catterton, a consumer-focused private equity firm for an undisclosed sum last year. The deal came after the brand established Birkenstock Group in 2012 with Oliver Reichert and Markus Bensberg, the company's first non-family CEOs, at the helm, according to a press release.
