New Balance announced the opening of its first U.S. global flagship Store at Boston Landing, a new retail experience rooted in performance, innovation and telling the New Balance story. New Balance also confirmed that it was opening a distribution center in Missouri to support its e-commerce growth.

The 6,566 sq. ft. store located at 140 Guest St. in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood offers a unique consumer journey within an immersive and interactive brand experience, including the Made.Boston demonstration and shoe assembly area. The store employs 20 associates, including three Shoe Ambassadors to host the Made.Boston area and provide tours.

Entering the store, consumers are surrounded by a large running impact display, communicating the brand’s authentic running heritage and showcasing premium head-to-toe performance running looks for men and women. Digital screens, including two large, curved screens descending from the ceiling, feature dynamic visuals of elite Team NB athletes such as Trayvon Bromell and Emma Coburn, as well as images and videos that inspire and convey movement. Other areas in the store feature women’s training and studio products, baseball, tennis, and soccer footwear and apparel, lifestyle footwear and apparel, and kids’ footwear

“We are excited to open this store in Boston Landing that pays tribute to our heritage and spirit, celebrates our innovation and sets a new precedent for the high standard of retail excellence we have established with our New Balance Experience Stores in Boston, New York, and Beijing among others.” said Rob DeMartini, President and CEO of New Balance. “This store invites residents and visitors to our home city to engage with our brand’s story and the passion of our associates.”

Anchoring the store at its center is the Made.Boston demonstration and shoe assembly area, where consumers have a front row seat as limited edition 574’s are made right before their eyes, showcasing the company’s commitment to domestic manufacturing. Shoes will go through the final steps in the assembly process within a cylindrical, glass-walled room, as Shoe Ambassadors describe the process and answer visitors’ questions in a theatrical spin on the typical manufacturing process. The shoe’s uppers, which are assembled and sewn in New Balance’s Lawrence factory, are steamed, adhered to the soles, cleaned up and boxed for consumers to purchase and take home that day. Shoes are made to order based on size, and consumers have three colorways to choose from, each inspired by the brand’s heritage in running as well as the flagship store itself and the New Balance global headquarters at Boston Landing.
The store’s design features natural and industrial materials throughout such as wood, concrete and metal, which provide a neutral backdrop that allows the products to stand out. As a nod to New Balance’s history of manufacturing in New England, the wall behind the cash wrap is made of metal fire doors from the Skowhegan, Maine factory where some of the brand’s Made In USA footwear is produced. Each global flagship store, six of which are slated to open this year, features a unique cash wrap display designed to pay homage to that city’s culture. The brand’s first Global Flagship store opened this spring in Gangnam, South Korea, with San Francisco, London, Milan and Tokyo opening later this year.

“This store represents a huge shift for New Balance, and a real transformation of the retail experience for our consumers,” said Mark Johnson, Global Director of Visual Merchandising for New Balance. “We have created a space that allows for deeper engagement with consumers and athletes to facilitate clear, consistent storytelling that will truly elevate the energy and momentum behind our brand.”

Additional features within the store include:

  • NB1 Customization Bars, where consumers use iPads to design their own NB1 custom 574, 998, or 990v3 shoes, which are made in Lawrence and shipped directly to the consumer. Color and material swatches as well as shoe samples are displayed for consumers to interact with as they go through the design process.
  • Strava NB Run Club live feed, a digital screen displaying the recent activities of members of the NB Run Club Global Flagship group, which meets at the store for group runs three times a week. The club will kick off on Thursday, June 30 at 5:30 p.m. with a special event featuring gift cards for the first 20 attendees, raffles for free shoes, and food and refreshments. Regular group runs will take place each week on Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m., Thursdays at 5:30 p.m., and Sundays at 10:00 a.m. Visit strava.com/clubs/NBRCGlobalFlagship for more information and to sign up for the run club.

To celebrate the opening of the store and highlight the company’s long-time commitment to its local community, on Wednesday, June 22, Team NB athletes Brock Holt and Christian Vazquez visited the store for a private event with five children from the West End House Boys and Girls Club in Allston. The athletes helped the children pick out and try on new shoes, answered questions, and took photos. The New Balance Foundation supports the West End House through associate volunteerism and grants, including a $3 million grant given to the organization to commemorate the New Balance World Headquarters grand opening in September 2015.

Boston Landing is a 15-acre parcel in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston that is being developed by NB Development Group, LLC. The New Balance World Headquarters, at 100 Guest St., is home to approximately 500 New Balance associates.

Separately, New Balance confirmed that it is opening a new, 165,000 sq. ft. distribution center today in Earth City, MO part of an ongoing and growing investment that the Boston, MA-based and privately held company is making in the St. Louis area to support the rapid growth of its global eCommerce business. The grand opening celebration held June 21 featured a visit and remarks from DeMartini.

“New Balance is proud to make this significant investment in our eCommerce business and in the St. Louis area, which has become the center of our global eCommerce development,” said DeMartini. “The St. Louis Earth City Distribution Center is a symbol of our growth as a brand and a retailer and our drive to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of online consumers.”

The new facility, which employs 36 associates, will process up to 60,000 orders of footwear, apparel, and accessories each month for NewBalance.com consumers across the United States. Process and efficiency improvements will allow same-day order fulfillment for the majority of customers, which, combined with the facility’s centralized location, will support the rapid growth of the business and deliver premium New Balance products to consumers faster and more seamlessly than ever before.

“The selection of Earth City for our new facility was based on a combination of benefits offered by the location, including the ability to retain our talented and experienced staff from our former location in Fenton, MO, which we had outgrown,” said Kevin Holian, VP of Global Value Chain for New Balance. “Our passionate and dedicated associates combined with sophisticated new warehouse management software and automated material handling equipment will give this team the ability to meet consumer demand for years to come.”

The St. Louis area has been the home of New Balance.com since 1990, when newbalance.com was founded and operated by the Deck family. In 2008, New Balance Athletics, Inc. acquired the website and since that time, the business has grown exponentially. Approximately 200 associates are now employed in the Sunset Hills office, supporting the brand’s website that attracts more than 100,000 consumer visits each day. This dynamic, evolving, and talented associate group consists of a wide range of professional teams including Global Technology Development, Creative Studio, eCommerce Site and Marketing leadership, New Digital Business Development, Retail Merchandising, Distribution Center Operations, Consumer Analytics, and a Consumer Support Call Center.

“With our Sunset Hills office and the new St. Louis Earth City Distribution Center, New Balance is demonstrating our commitment to expanding unique technology sector employment opportunities in the St. Louis area,” said Bill Jacoby, Managing Director and General Manager of New Balance eCommerce. “Our global retailing division is experiencing a historic transformation led by digital commerce, and the St. Louis region offers New Balance an ever-expanding source of talented professionals, outstanding college and university students, and state and regional government leaders who are committed to supporting new sources of economic growth. We are excited to be a part of that movement.”

New Balance St. Louis associates participate each year in the company’s annual Global Volunteer Week in support of NB SparkStart, a global charitable initiative aimed at fueling the next generation’s passion for movement and the pursuit of lifelong health, well-being and success. NB SparkStart Global Volunteer Week efforts align directly with the NB SparkStart goal, by encouraging associates worldwide to coordinate service projects that inspire a lifetime of movement and healthy eating in kids.