First Look: Outdoor Voices brings hint of Texas to New York flagship store
Outdoor Voices continues to expand in brick-and-mortar with the opening of its 10th store.
The fast-growing activewear brand for women (and, more recently, men) has opened a flagship in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. The 1,400-sq.-ft. store is designed to pay homage to Outdoor Voices’ home state of Texas. (The company is based in Austin.). Cacti that are native to Texas (and ethically sourced by the Cactus Store) line the storefront.
The store has a clean, streamlined look. The brand’s top-selling items are displayed in the front of the space. A “discovery zone” in the rear provides a deeper dive into products. Customers can consult with associates on what product is right for them at a service counter located in the middle of the store. The fitting rooms are outfitted with tiles and designed to feel like the changing rooms at a traditional gym or YMCA. Promotional videos of Outdoor Voices’ products in action are shown on a screen.
Similar to Outdoor Voice’s other locations, the Flatiron store will host community events on a weekly basis and showcase a variety of activities, such as “dog jogs.” It also sells grab-and-go snacks from Erewhon, a popular organic Los Angeles market from Los Angeles that sells only ethically and sustainably produced foods.
Outdoor Voices has more stores coming in 2020 and will be expanding in additional markets similar to Austin, reported WWD.
“The stores have been really important to us,” Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney said in the report. “It allows up to activate in real life, and locally. The events are what connect the customer to OV.”
The company, whose tagline is “Doing Things,” was founded online in 2014 as an alternative performance brand for women who wanted to be active but not necessarily compete. A message on its website describes the mission: “We’re freeing fitness from performance and bringing back doing things for fun,” This isn’t about being first or fastest. It’s about showing up often.”
Outdoor Voices has grown exponentially from a small start-up to a brand that has attracted over $56.5 million in venture funding. In addition to its two New York stores, Outdoor Voices operates brick-and-mortar stores in Washington, D.C.; Austin; Dallas; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Boston; Nashville; and Chicago. An additional store is in the works for Houston, Texas.