Sneakersnstuff is opening in L.A. before year’s end. But the retailer isn’t stopping there.
In a call with FN, the boutique retailer’s co-founder Erik Fagerlind shared the next cities where a SNS location could be in 2019.
“The next phase, our focus for ’19, is on head our target cities — Seoul and Tokyo,” Fagerlind said. “I’m not sure if we will be able to both for next year because we’re already in October. But that’s the main target.”
The reasoning for setting up in those two cities next year, Fagerlind explained, is to establish a base in Asia to make further expansion in the market easier.
“It’s easier for us to open another store in Europe than another store in the U.S. because we already have that machinery in place,” Fagerlind said. “So our focus is to build the machinery [we have in Europe] in Asia so we can open up stores.”
However, with roots already established in Europe and the U.S., Fagerlind confirmed that a new SNS door could open in one of the two aforementioned markets before any expansion into Asia happens.
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The sneaker boutique announced Thursday that it would open in L.A. in December, a 3,450 square foot store in Venice, in close proximity to Venice Beach. The location, Fagerlind admitted, isn’t a retail hotbed — which is exactly what made it attractive.
“For retail, [Venice] is not a high-traffic retail area. We look to open where it’s untested waters. We want to create the destination. To open where it’s already a destination, it’s difficult for us to become a destination,” Fagerlind said. “With L.A., we had to consider the fact that there are already existing sneaker stores. They don’t need another sneaker door in West Hollywood, they don’t need another downtown, or in Melrose.”
The store will be designed by the retailer’s official design partner, Swedish architect Jenny Askenfors of Bofink Design Studio.
Sneakersnstuff has doors in Stockholm, London, Paris, Berlin and New York City. It’s NYC store, which opened in December, was the first in the states for the retailer.
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