Ugg Opens Global Flagship On New York’s Fifth Avenue
The store on 45th Street and Fifth Avenue showcases the brand’s ready-to-wear collection.
NEW YORK — Ugg may have its roots in Southern California, but the brand has chosen New York City to unveil its global flagship.
The two-level, 12,842- square-foot store on the corner of 45th Street and Fifth Avenue, which opens Thursday, is intended to showcase Ugg as more than simply a footwear brand. That’s clearly evident upon entering the store, since the brand’s new ready-to-wear collection, which launched in September, is front and center, alongside its signature shoes and accessories. The store also carries home products.
The unit was designed by Florencia Pita of the architectural firm Quezada, and speaks to the brand’s aesthetic of being cozy and comfortable. From the sheepskin coats, fleece hoodies and cashmere sweat suits to the fuzzy mittens and waterproof ankle boots, the store offers a range of products and price points for men, women and children. The apparel and footwear is merchandised together through the unit to drive home the message of Ugg as a lifestyle brand.
The company’s first concept store opened in SoHo 14 years ago, but this new design is seen as a “tipping point for the brand,” said Gerald Marceda, senior director of retail.
He said the opening of the Fifth Avenue store marks the culmination of two years of planning and work. The company’s store on Madison Avenue and 58th Street was coming to the end of its 10-year lease and the decision was made to move to Fifth Avenue. The pandemic only marginally delayed the opening, which was expected to be in September, he said.
Marceda said the design of the store, which is LED-certified, is intended to reflect the brand’s California roots, and takes inspiration from the Eames House in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. The main floor is light and airy and is “reminiscent of California outdoor living,” he said. The second floor is intended to be “more intimate and cozy.”
One striking feature of the main floor is an “unusual pathway,” he said, between the apparel displays inside the front entrance created from custom shingles similar to those found in the brand’s logo. That same design is used on the exterior.
All of the fixtures were made in L.A. and custom panels behind the cash wrap and around the store mimic the outsole of the Ugg signature boot. “It’s subtle, but pays homage to our roots,” he said.
The main floor also showcases an 80-foot-long “feature wall” that will be highlighting three local heroes for the opening — King’s County Distiller Colin Spoelman, ICU nurse Kimberly Llanto and restaurant owner Melba Wilson — as part of the brand’s “Feel Love” holiday campaign. The wall will be rotated seasonally.
In the back corner of the main floor, right next to the escalators, is a “flex room” that will be used for product launches, collaborations or other focus products. In the past, the brand has partnered with everyone from Telfar and Heron Preston to Jeremy Scott, Molly Goddard and Feng Chen Wang and this would one of the sites where that product could be featured. For the opening, the space will be used for gift wrapping.
To draw people to the second floor, the lighting can be customized and there will be artwork at the top. In June, for instance, to promote the brand’s Pride product, rainbow lighting will “entice” shoppers upstairs, he said.
The second floor highlights men’s and kids merchandise as well as a home area. A “cozy shop” features “perfect quarantine apparel” such as sweaters and sweatpants; there is an area devoted to technical performance product for winter such as gloves and shearling ear muffs, and a classic room where some of the brand’s most-popular pieces are houses.
Among Ugg’s biggest sellers these days are a clear waterproof boot — the Classic Clear Mini — with a shearling liner that retails for $150. The boot is available in an array of colors and there are complementary handbags as well.
For holiday, the brand is offering a collection emblazoned with sequins on boots and platform shoes among other products, intended to appeal to a younger customer.
Overall, women’s accounts for 75 percent of Ugg’s sales, with men’s and children’s splitting the other 25 percent.