Dive Brief:
- Skechers held the grand opening for its first U.S. performance store in Miami, Florida, on Aug. 29, according to a press release.
- Located at Dolphin Mall, the over 26,000-square-foot Skechers is the footwear brand’s largest factory mall store to date and follows the opening of other performance-focused Skechers stores in Canada, Belgium, Germany and Chile. Those locations range in size from 7,500 square feet to 10,700 square feet.
- The Miami store carries the complete range of Skechers performance footwear, apparel and accessories for basketball, running, soccer, golf, pickleball and the outdoors.
Dive Insight:
The vast retail space offers Skechers the opportunity to show consumers its variety of technical sports-related footwear, featuring experiential zones focused on running, pickleball, golf, basketball and soccer. Dedicated areas include state-of-the-art digital LED screens, selfie areas localized with Miami-centric graphics and product specialists.
The reason for choosing Miami for its first U.S. performance store was because of the city’s rich sports-focused community, the company said.
The opening brought out Minnesota Timberwolf NBA star Julius Randle who, along with Terance Mann, represented Skechers’ first professional basketball players to become brand ambassadors in 2023.
“At our largest factory mall location, Skechers’ World of Sports showcases all that’s revolutionary about our one-of-a-kind technologies for the 36 million annually who frequent one of the highest-traffic tourist malls in the country,” Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers, said in a statement. “Like every professional athlete and enthusiast who has stepped into our styles, we’re all in and are ready to change the game.”
Over the past two years Skechers has broadened its product offerings in the performance space, an area largely dominated by such brands as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, On and Hoka.
Through one of its WNBA ambassadors — LA Sparks star Rickea Jackson — Skechers introduced the SKX Full-Court Press basketball shoe for women earlier this summer. In July, the brand launched the latest version of its performance soccer shoes through a tie-in with Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane.
This summer, Skechers introduced several new styles of performance running shoes through its AERO series. Three versions of the shoe addressed cushioning, balance and speed.
In May, Skechers announced its plan to be acquired by 3G Capital and go private for $9.4 billion. The deal is expected to close on Friday.
Skechers in August reported Q2 earnings of $2.4 billion in sales, a 13.1% increase year over year. The brand’s wholesale earnings grew 15% to $1.3 billion and its DTC sales were up 11% to $1.1 billion.
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Retail Dive: Operations newsletter. You can sign up for it here.
