Ecco is looking into the future as it continues the work to transform its business in the U.S.
The Danish shoe and leather company, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, will mark this transformation by toasting to the opening of its first store in Manhattan on Thursday night.
Located at 110 Grand Street in SoHo, the 3,250-sq.-ft. space features the company’s full range of footwear and accessories, as well as some special-edition pieces that will be exclusive to the Manhattan flagship.
As for the shop’s design, Ecco CEO Panos Mytaros told FN in an exclusive walkthrough ahead of the opening that the new flagship ushers in a new concept for the company’s stores moving forward.
“Even though we have been doing business in the states for more than 30 years, this is the first time we’ve ever had a store in New York City,” Mytaros, who was promoted to the top job at the company in 2021, told FN. “We have established ourselves in the market here, through wholesale and direct channels, so we need to move on. This means, we need to modernize the brand. We need to get more consumers in, while also remaining true to ourselves. It’s not an easy thing to do. But ultimately, the fact is, you cannot be a worldwide brand without a presence here in New York.”
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The store, which sits at the corner of Broadway and Grand Street, was designed in partnership with Swedish studio Stamuli, and features details that honor Ecco’s Danish roots. These include the use of Jutland bricks as displays, a nod to the buildings of its headquarters, and larger than life leather pillows paying homage to the handcrafted leather from the company’s own tanneries. Aluminum, which is a key material in the brand’s manufacturing processes, is also a recurring motif within the store.
This new store comes at a time when Ecco is keenly focused on its U.S. business. On Dec. 1, Deniz Erda was named the permanent president of Ecco USA after being appointed as the interim regional leader in September. Erda, who has been with the company since 2013, most recently served as SVP and GM for Ecco Middle East & Africa. He now formally replaces Tom Berry, who joined the company in January 2022 as president and CEO of Ecco USA.
Erda, who was also at the store walkthrough, told FN that, in his new role, he is charged with continuing to move the business forward in the States. “It’s important for us to show the world here through this store that we are taking steps to modernize the organization,” Erda said. “This is really a milestone moment for Ecco. In the future, who knows, we may look at other locations along Fifth Avenue. But in the meantime, I am focused on our core business as well as wholesale partnerships with key department and independent stores.”
“We cannot just think of wholesale as a separate channel anymore,” Mytaros chimed in. “Everything is connected now. It’s not just wholesale versus DTC. What we do with Nordstrom, which is one of our biggest retail partners, translates to how consumers see us in other retail touchpoints. This store, and our position in SoHo, plays in that role. We want our consumers and our retail partners to believe what we say when we tell them we are transforming the brand.”
Transforming indeed. Mytaros went on to add that Ecco is in the midst of “big” plan that sees other new elements “injected” into the company that it hasn’t explored in the past. One of these elements includes the recent introduction of the new NRL Collection with Chloe alum Natacha Ramsay-Levi. The 15-piece capsule, which will be available at the Manhattan flagship, was designed in tandem with Ecco, with Ramsay-Levi serving as a creative partner.
This isn’t the first time Ramsay-Levi has worked with Ecco,. She was also among the first cohort taking part in Ecco’s At.Kollektive project, which introduced a variety of designers to Ecco’s research, development and manufacturing expertise, and asked them to dream up creations for the brand.
The CEO added that designer Peter Do is also slated to join the brand’s collective of creatives in the near future. “It’s very important to show consumers what Ecco can do,” Mytaros said. “We can do this by bringing in more designers like Natasha to attract more interest in the brand. While this is important, we are not looking to reposition Ecco in terms of look. Instead, we are aiming to capture more market share in women’s, especially since we are traditionally seen as more men’s focused in the States.”
But in the end, this flagship is all about starting fresh. “Ultimately, this store marks the beginning of a new Ecco,” Mytaros added. “A transformed Ecco, not a different Ecco.”
