Napapijri to Open in Miami Beach
Napapijri, the European sportswear brand owned by VF Outdoor Inc., continues to bring its adventure-inspired lifestyle stateside with the opening of their second US store on Lincoln Road, Miami’s premiere shopping destination.
The new store will be located at 1008 Lincoln Road and is scheduled to open in June 2006 as part of the brand’s US retail roll out strategy. The Miami store will showcase the brand’s signature men’s and women’s apparel and accessories as well as a small assortment of childrenswear in 1,500 square feet of selling space on one floor, mirroring the brand’s international presentation. The modern yet outdoors-inspired nature of the environment provides an ideal stage for the presentation of the Napapijri® brand’s contemporary merchandise.
The Miami store opening will follow the company’s first US flagship opening in New York City’s Soho district which is scheduled for May 2006. The stores’ design concept as well as all furnishings and fixtures were designed exclusively for the Napapijri® brand by Studio DeCarlo Gualla, an architectural firm in Milan which has collaborated with Napapijri® brand representatives on the recent store openings all over the world.
A glass entrance door and wall-to-wall steel-accented windows will allow natural light to stream in. Printed back-lit glass wall in the back of the store will feature brand imagery utilizing a unique sublimation technique allowing it to change every six months to reflect a different theme each season. The fitting rooms and offices will be discreetly positioned behind the printed glass wall through the invisible doors.
The product will be displayed utilizing a system of chestnut wood structures, clouded steel boards and styled steel nets covering the two opposing walls. The fixtures will be removable in order to accommodate various shelving and steel bar configurations. The Napapijri® brand will be infused into the environment via the use of signature overhead lighting, oak fixtures and sanded wood blades printed with the brand’s iconic logo and graphics. Michele Colonna, Director of Marketing & Visual Merchandising of the Napapijri® brand, described the store concept as a “beautifully simple expression of our brand philosophy – its technological, traditional and international.”
Founded in 1986 in Aosta, Italy and acquired by VF Corporation in May 2004, the Napapijri® brand offers a range of men’s, women’s and kids’ sportswear as well as bags and accessories. The name Napajpiri is derived from the Finnish word for Arctic Circle as travel and the spirit of adventure are the inspiration for the brand’s line of sportswear. There are currently 17 retail stores including locations in Paris and Chamonix, France, Milan, Italy, Munich, Germany and Tokyo, Japan. The goal of VF Outdoor Inc. is to have 55 Napapijri® brand stores worldwide by 2010. Napapijri products are also sold in over 1,500 specialty and department stores in more than 19 countries.
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