Sustainable Allbirds to debut in UK with Covent Garden store

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 3, 2018

High-end sustainable footwear brand Allbirds is to open its debut UK store in Covent Garden later this month. The 1,600 sq ft unit is located at 121-123 Long Acre and was designed by Allbirds’ in-house team and XYZ.

The company, which makes wool shoes, has made an impact in its short history and sold over a million pairs in under two years. It currently has just two permanent retail locations in New York and San Francisco, but also recently hosted a pop-up store in Toronto.

Its new site, which is on the estate run by The Mercers’ Company, will introduce its range of what it claims to be “the world’s most comfortable shoes” to London with the eco-friendly sneakers and casual shoes likely to find a ready market in the Millennial-packed  Covent Garden area.

The San Francisco-based business said Covent Garden is “the perfect platform” to launch its first European store and that having a physical presence is key for the brand.

“Because we develop products that are tactile in nature, it’s important to give customers a space to interact with our shoes,” it said. “After witnessing the reaction to that first try-on moment, we understand the value in getting our products into the hands of curious shoppers so they can experience the comfort and design for themselves. This isn’t necessarily true for every company or industry, but we believe it is important for us.”
 
This opening joins the current line-up of major UK and international brands on Long Acre including, Reiss, Levi’s and Calvin Klein underwear and Russell & Bromley.