Vivaia Eyes US Market Growth With First Store in NYC

Vivaia’s inaugural U.S. physical retail store is officially opened. The permanent outpost, located in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, was a no-brainer for the brand as the move comes after a series of pop-up shops in New York, as well as Paris and L.A. “New York was a very easy, obvious choice for us. It’s our number two city globally, London being the first,” said general manager Howard Herman. “We know that the digitally native brands face headwinds from rising costs of acquisition. And there’s a thought that you need to be wherever the consumer wants to buy product, and they very much want to be in physical environments again.” Since launching in 2020 as a DTC brand by footwear industry veteran Marina Chen, Vivaia has seen rapid growth, with a major footprint also in Asia. “We were approached by a franchisee who’s helped us open stores in different markets in Asia. And in Japan, we formed a joint venture with another company. So the pop-ups in those markets have turned into multiple retail locations,” explained Herman. “The U.S. is our biggest market globally, and so rather than finding a partner, we thought we better build the staff and the skills and the

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