SoHo is still buzzing from the highly anticipated grand opening of The North Face’s newly redesigned NYC headquarters this past weekend. The outdoor apparel giant recently relocated its SoHo store to a new 8,000-square-foot location at 584 Broadway between West Houston and Prince Street, and the new store provides a unique shopping experience that is poised to elevate the brand to new heights.
Grand opening specials featured a limited-edition line of custom-designed duffel bags created in collaboration with New York artists Adam Lucas and Eric Haze, along with rock climber Renan Ozturk, one of the brand’s sponsored athletes. Dozens of media reps were on hand to celebrate the event, along with an energetic public that took delight in exploring archival displays, enjoying interactive activities, and even gathering around a virtual campfire.
The new store is impeccably designed to appeal to nature-loving consumers, with sustainable materials and design elements, and features innovative interactive displays that showcase some of the brand’s most iconic and popular pieces. The plan is to extend this new retail concept to the company’s other locations over the next five years. The new line of stores will feature premium, sustainable, and durable materials as a nod to the company’s commitment to durability in its product line.
The strategic branding concept behind the new SoHo store is intended to make the space feel more in line with the brand’s mission of serving athletes and nature enthusiasts who love to spend time exploring the outdoors and less like a retail space where the focus is simply on selling products. The SoHo store is constructed using Forest Stewardship Council-certified reclaimed wood, steel, and granite, as well as low-volatile paints made with organic compounds. The entire retail experience is an extension of the brand’s heritage and values, treating visitors to various museum-like exhibits showcasing athletic expeditions into the wild and the way that the brand’s classic products have enhanced these experiences.
While The North Face operates 160 retail outlets in the U.S. and over 1,000 around the world – including two others in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn – the SoHo location has become the flagship for the company’s new retail concept. The store is designed to showcase the brand’s forward-looking vision and commitment to building a global community around the issue of environmental protection and the preservation of wild outdoor spaces. It also provides opportunities for consumers who are eager to explore new territory to learn about new possibilities and opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Taking the Brand to New Heights
Heading The North Face’s new retail strategy is Steve Lesnard, the company’s new vice president of global marketing. A lifelong athlete and outdoorsman, Lesnard is now passionately committed to taking The North Face to its natural summit. Lesnard believes in the power of big ideas and the ability of those ideas to impact and change society. He builds brands by inspiring passionate and dedicated teams composed of diverse, dynamic thinkers who nurture disruptive and innovative ideas by encouraging curiosity and discovery.
At the center of every innovative strategy is the goal of improving the consumer journey by providing unique retail experiences that empower consumers when they use a particular product.
Lesnard, along with fellow executives Mark Parker and Evert Lee, treated media reps to a personal tour of the new store at its grand opening. “This is a pivotal time in the company’s history, and we’ve created a hub for exploration that will showcase our passion for the outdoors and our innovative products,” Lesnard said during an interview published in WWD.
Footwear News described the new store design as one that creates “experiences that are base camps for exploration, with hopes to form stronger bonds with consumers.” News of the grand opening also made its way to social media, including a slew of stories posted on Instagram by Highsnobiety, featuring pictures of the store’s innovative visual elements and design.
“Our stores will continue to offer a convenient and seamless shopping experience, but it is no longer the sole mission of the store,” noted Parker, vice president of the brand’s direct to consumer division. “We’re now focused on creating an environment that highlights our heritage and allows consumers to deeply connect with the brand as they prepare for their own exploration, wherever it may be,” he explained.
Interactivity and Guides Enhance the New Retail Experience
Some of the more eye-catching exhibits at the new store include hanging displays showcasing some of the brand’s most popular and iconic products, including such classics as the original Base Camp Duffel Bag, first launched in 1978; the Nuptse Jacket launched in 1982; the Denali Fleece jacket that made its debut in 1988; the Himalayan Suit released in 1994; and the Mountain Jacket introduced in 1995.
The store also features strategic exhibits displayed in glass cases showcasing products that have been used by some of the brand’s sponsored athletes. Viewers can appreciate the quality and durability of the gear produced by the North Face in such products as the original, time-worn Base Camp Duffel used by the famed mountaineer Conrad Anker. Anker has three successful Mount Everest summit climbs under his belt, including one achieved without the use of supplemental oxygen and one free climb to the summit.
The vast retail space is intelligently divided into theme-based sections, including one centering the brand’s eco-conscious Thermoball collection of durable, packable outerwear made out of post-consumer recycled materials. There is a section devoted to bags, including duffels, backpacks, and rugged luggage, as well as an NYC-specific collection of T-shirts and sweats also made out of recycled materials.
There are sections devoted to hiking and trail running and a special section called Walls Are Meant for Climbing, which highlights the brand’s versatile collection of climbing gear just in time to celebrate Global Climbing Day on August 24. The Summit Series section features the brand’s state-of-the-art collection of rugged climbing gear designed to assist and protect climbers facing the world’s most challenging climates and environments.
One of the store’s most interesting sections is The North Face’s diverse collection of outerwear, which will continue to expand as winter approaches. The newest addition to the brand’s outerwear collection is the new FUTURELIGHT line of breathable and waterproof outerwear, which launches on October 1. In the outerwear section, jackets are displayed around a “campfire” area, in which sales associates referred to as “guides” help customers plan trips to explore wild locations around the globe.
“The guides will add real value to our consumers and foster a state of community,” Lesnard explained in a recent interview with WWD. These guides will also help customers learn the ropes of how to set up and use the brand’s gear and equipment, such as tents, sleeping bags, and camping gear. Guides can help customers learn to pitch a tent while also recommending other products to enhance their experience in the outdoors. “Consumers are telling us that they’re striving for exploration and want to get outdoors,” Lesnard said. And the North Face is responding.
This point illustrates Lesnard’s core belief that building brand loyalty requires an intimate knowledge of a brand’s consumer base and a focus on providing a consumer journey that nurtures and empowers the consumer, far beyond the simple act of getting a product into their hands. Lesnard insists that innovative retail products must provide experiences that add real value to consumers’ lives. The North Face is primed to provide those experiences through enhanced, integrated retail journeys that engage consumers and connect them to what they seek, reinforcing the relationship between the brand and its users.
Not surprisingly, given Lesnard’s prolific success launching products that enhance life for the running community, footwear will begin to play a larger role at The North Face, which has also launched a dedicated department specifically to serve women, with products that can also be worn on the street. The women’s collection represents about half of the company’s sales, and Lesnard has stressed that the brand has a “huge opportunity to make products more appealing” to women.
Steve Lesnard Talks Facing the Future
While brick-and-mortar retail has been consistently facing challenges across all markets, Lesnard affirmed to WWD that the retail stores are not only profitable for the brand but also serve a distinct purpose. “Our direct-to-consumer stores help elevate the brand,” he said. “But drawing traffic at retail today requires stores to be distinctive.” Beyond its grand opening, which provided a visionary experience for all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts, the store will continue to host special events to promote product launches, including regular screenings of its outdoor films, a speaker series, and other events that will provide value for consumers who value the company’s product line and what it stands for.
The store also accommodates online shoppers by providing lockers to hold orders for customers who can pick them up at their convenience.
The North Face is definitely facing its True North since Lesnard came on board a few months ago, and the next store that will get a total makeover in the coming weeks is the one in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Following that, the company will focus on Seattle, as well as several locations in Europe, all of which will begin their design transformations later this fall. The North Face is committed to updating the majority of its stores by the end of 2024 as a way to create “brand consistency,” according to Lesnard, while also enhancing its consumer base’s retail journey and adding true value to the lives of those who are passionate about exploring the great outdoors.
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