Spanish footwear brand Alohas is expanding further into the U.S. market just one year after opening its first store in the Americas in NYC’s Nolita neighborhood.
Earlier this month, Alohas has opened two more retail locations, it’s second permanent store in New York City and its first pop-up in Los Angeles. Located at 400 Bleecker Street in NYC’s West Village neighborhood and at 1410 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, Calif., the new stores offer the Barcelona-based footwear brand’s range of sneakers, sandals, ballet flats and more.
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According to Alohas, the stores were designed by Clap Studio, the award-winning firm based in Valencia, which has been working on the brand’s store design since the first opening in Spain.
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And with the United States representing the brand’s largest market, the continued retail expansion reflects a strategic investment in physical spaces that complement its digital-first, on-demand model.
“New York is the most important city in the world for us in terms of online sales, and is where we have most customers,” Alejandro Porras, founder and chief executive officer of Alohas, told FN in an interview. “Our first location that opened that year has been performing super well, and better than expected. Plus, the fact that we have so many customers based here on top of the visiting tourists is the reason why we wanted to open a second store in the city.”
In terms of other U.S. locations, no other openings are confirmed in the region for this year, but Porras told FN that he has been looking at storefronts in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Dallas and Boston.
“We will continue to keep opening stores, but it’s a matter of having the patience to find the right opportunity and the right spot,” the CEO said. “So, it’s a matter of finding the opportunity rather than our willingness, because we are willing to open already.”
And Alohas’ growth is not just an U.S. story, Porras noted that the company has expanded across Europe with stores in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Milan, London, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. More locations are in the works in Lisbon and Vienna, he said.
“We are super excited to keep opening stores where we have those customers that have been asking, and screaming at us, to open the stores,” Porras added. “And now we have the opportunity and the resources to get to meet them in real life.”
Founded by Porras in 2015 while he was living in Hawaii, the idea for the company came from the Menorquinas sandals he was wearing in his daily life while on the island. So, as an ode to his staple espadrille-like footwear choice while in Hawaii, the company was originally known as Alohas Sandals. But over the last 11 years, the company quickly grew to other footwear categories and has even added some ready-to-wear. Alohas is also expected to debut its first bag collection in the coming weeks.