LONDON — Barely more than six months after Vuori opened its first international flagship on Regent Street in London, the Encinitas, Calif.-based brand is already ramping up its retail operations.
Vuori has opened its third store in London on the King’s Road in Chelsea. The brand first opened its doors to London in 2022 with a store in Covent Garden.
“Our overarching strategy for Vuori’s international expansion is to build density. We look for markets, like London, where we can form clusters of stores, build a first-rate team, and connect in a meaningful way with the local community. London is the center of the retail world for Europe, and we see an opportunity for a substantial retail business here,” Andy Lawrence, senior vice president of international at Vuori, said in an interview.
Inside Vuori’s store on the King’s Road.
He added that the brand has been very selective about its locations.
“King’s Road has been a key target from the beginning, and we finally found a space (in partnership with Cadogan) that we think is perfect for the brand. In all three stores, we cater both our assortment and our community experience to the local clientele, and the tourists that frequent each store,” said Lawrence.
Vuori is expecting to benefit from tourist traffic, but is counting on local clientele to represent the bulk of sales at the store.
Chelsea is an affluent neighborhood with a demographic that’s more conscious of fitness with new Pilates studios opening almost every month.
Inside Vuori’s store on the King’s Road.
“We’re thus very focused on building a store design that speaks to the Chelsea customer, participating in local events, and creating an ongoing cadence of interesting local community events,” said Lawrence.
The brand celebrated its new store by hosting a run club with British TV personality Spencer Matthews, who shot to fame in 2011 with the reality TV series “Made in Chelsea,” which followed a circle of affluent young people living in west London.
Classical Pilates instructor Ashlea McKee will be teaching a Pilates class with a focus on Vuori’s BlissBlend Form collection, which has been “designed for high intensity training,” according to Lawrence.
Events and activations will be a recurring element across the brand’s U.K. and U.S. stores.
Inside Vuori’s store on the King’s Road.
As reported, Vuori received an $825 million investment led by General Atlantic and Stripes, two global growth investors, along with a collection of other investors that now values the company at $5.5 billion.
The investment, structured as a secondary tender offer, is more than twice the $400 million Vuori received in 2021 from institutional investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which had skyrocketed the company’s valuation to $4 billion.
Lawrence added that the brand “cannot share any specific performance metrics, but we can say that we are exceeding our expectations across both our retail and online business, and we are looking forward to continuing to scale in the market.”
The U.K. has become a competitive market for premium athleisure clothing with brands such as Gymshark, Alo Yoga, Lululemon and On Running opening all across London.
“We have a very loyal customer base, and we remain relentlessly focused on delivering them premium performance apparel that blends technical innovation with an effortless California-inspired aesthetic,” said Lawrence.
Vuori is investing in fabric innovation such as BlissBlend and DreamKnit, which are among favorites with U.K. customers.
