German brand Birkenstock has been dubbed "the official shoe for work from home." So, starting in 2020, the Birkenstock business has shown steady growth, largely due to the changed consumer preferences during the pandemic, writes Footwearnews.com.
With the global consumer shift towards comfortable fashion for work from home due to the pandemic, 2020 has been a very successful year for the German footwear brand Birkenstock.
According to Oliver Reichert, co-CEO of Birkenstock Group, the company's annual revenues for fiscal 2020 (which ended in September 2020) easily surpassed the previous year's figures. The comfort footwear brand was so strong that it attracted investors and struck deals with private equity firms L Catterton and Financière Agache. Two investment vehicles backed by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and luxury titan Bernard Arnault and his family, respectively, have acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock and have since then helped develop its global expansion, especially in Asia.
In April, Birkenstock opened its third U.S. flagship store in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, NY. With this opening, the brand's global retail chain has grown to 54 stores. Birkenstock ramped up sales of closed toe shoes in 2021. The company expects non-sandals to account for about 40% of the brand's total sales over the next year, and just over 50% over the next two years.
A few years ago, this was unthinkable, but now the company has managed to change the perception of the brand, which until now has been associated exclusively with sandals.
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