After a blockbuster year filled with milestones, Birkenstock is moving full steam ahead with the opening of its fifth store in the U.S.
Located at 111 NE 40th St. in Miami’s Design District, the German brand’s latest company-owned retail store features Birkenstock’s growing range of products for men, women and kids, including sandals, clogs, sneakers, shoes, boots and socks.
Design features of Birkenstock Miami — the company’s first store in the southeastern U.S. — include travertine stone floors and concrete planters that blend with signature brand materials such as cork and leather, all underneath a large-scale living plant wall celebrating local flora of South Florida.
Oliver Reichert, CEO of Birkenstock, called the new store a “pivotal moment” for the company. “[This opening] represents merging our brand’s enduring dedication to quality, tradition and heritage with the creative spirit and global community of Miami,” Reichert said in a statement. “Deepening our retail footprint is an important pillar of our long-term growth strategy. We currently have 47 shops around the world. In the U.S., for example, we have some 6,600 doors, but run only five own stores. So there’s obviously a huge upside potential.”
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The store, which officially opens on Friday, will be celebrated with a limited-edition capsule collection with footwear and streetwear retailer Concepts. For their latest drop, the duo have teamed up on a colorful range of long-haired cowhide Arizona sandals that honor the bright Art Deco buildings of Miami.
Additionally, as part of the opening week festivities, Birkenstock is taking part in Design Miami for the first time. For its Art Basel activation, the German brand will take over a sprawling space within the fair environment, where it has created a nature-laden serene space for respite within the busy environment of the fair. The space offers foot massages, seating areas and various interactive displays, including a showcase of the work of Californian-based timber sculptor Vince Skelly.
Birkenstock’s new Miami Design District store joins the footwear label’s other company-owned stores in Brooklyn, N.Y.; SoHo, N.Y.; Venice Beach, Calif. and Larkspur, Calif.
This year has been a truly action-packed year for the nearly 250-year-old shoe brand. After months of speculation, Birkenstock’s big moment came in October when it emerged onto the New York Stock Exchange with an $8.6 billion valuation, pricing its IPO at $46 a share. As of this publication, Birkenstock’s current share price is $47.05.
Birkenstock also had an eventful summer, thanks to its inclusion in the blockbuster hit movie “Barbie” – the most successful film of 2023 worldwide with box office sales of over $1.38 billion. In the film, Kate McKinnon’s “Weird Barbie” character explains to Margot Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie” she must choose between Barbieland-appropriate sparkly high-heeled pumps and a pair of Birkenstock sandals. The latter are the footwear chosen to represent the real world, where Barbie must venture to remedy her existential crisis — and her suddenly flattened feet. The cameo sparked a 110 percent increase on searches for Birkenstock Arizonas following the film’s release, according to Lyst.
And in March, the company touted that it was “near completion” on its brand-new factory in Pasewalk, Germany. The project, which broke ground last year at the Berlin-Szczecin Industrial Park, located about an hour north of Berlin, was estimated to cost $127 million. At the time, Birkenstock said it was scheduled to open the 387,500-sq.-ft. facility in the third quarter of 2023.
