La Sportiva’s new branded retail store is in a prime location in one of America’s iconic outdoorsy cities, sending a clear message to the market that the Italian brand is not only planting a flag in the U.S., but that the company is about more than just footwear.
In January, La Sportiva opened its first North American store just a block from Boulder, Colorado’s famous Pearl Street, joining a growing list of outdoor brands to open branded retail in the area, including Norrøna, Patagonia, Black Diamond, Arc’teryx, and more.
The Daily toured the store with Wes Green, vice president of sales and marketing for La Sportiva North America, and Retail Manager Jeremy Hendricks to better understand what the company has in mind for the U.S. market.
Wes Green, vice president of sales and marketing for La Sportiva North America, and Retail Manager Jeremy Hendricks. Photo by The Daily.
The brand previously operated a warehouse in Boulder with a small retail component, but this store affords La Sportiva much more versatility.
“We weren’t able to offer the full, comprehensive line and do the brand justice as it’s intended to be presented,” Green said. “This gives us the opportunity to do that.”
Coexisting with Independents, Pushing into U.S.
The store is roughly 4,200 square feet, with an outerwear section, a wall of climbing and approach shoes, apparel, backpacks, mountaineering footwear and equipment, an outlet-style discount section, and more.
Green said La Sportiva has been working on opening a premium brand store in North America for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the plan.
“This strategy has been going on in Europe for the last five or six years,” he added. “There are 12 brand stores in various formats in Europe.”
An assortment of women’s apparel and outerwear at La Sportiva in Boulder, Colorado. Photo by The Daily.
As more brand stores open in Boulder, that could put pressure on the brands’ relationships with independent outdoor specialty retailers who also carry their products. Green said La Sportiva intends to coexist with its retail partners.
“We think there’s room for both,” he added. “Most specialty retail showcases a lot of brands and picks and chooses what to carry from each brand. This allows us to really show the consumer the full brand offering.”
La Sportiva doesn’t plan on showcasing many other brands in the store, aside from some complementary products like climbing chalk that can be sold alongside a chalk bag.
Apparel, Outerwear Front and Center
Walking into the store, a shopper first sees the brand’s outerwear and apparel, with colorful displays of jackets and coats that are intentionally located to highlight that La Sportiva, most known for its footwear, makes a wide range of products.
In the alpine technical section, the brand is showcasing its premier lineup of outerwear and apparel, which La Sportiva has been manufacturing for about a decade.
“We’re featuring the best of the best in terms of GORE-TEX features, R-values, downs, synthetics,” Hendricks said. “This is our first time featuring (the apparel) stateside.”
La Sportiva apparel at the Boulder, Colorado store. Photo by The Daily.
Many other European brands such as Rab, Deuter, Mammut, and Norrøna are also making a push to sell into the U.S. market, and Green recognizes there’s a lot of competition. That’s why the apparel and outerwear is front and center in the new store.
“We want the ability to showcase the apparel the way it’s intended to be showcased,” he said. “We want to hit the consumer right over the head with, ‘Hey, we are a full-blown mountain brand.’ Our heritage in footwear is almost 100 years, but we have premium apparel in every discipline.”
Another difference between La Sportiva’s European-style offerings and the U.S. market, according to Green, is that the brand’s outerwear and apparel pushes style and color.
“That’s not always as widely accepted in the U.S. as it is in Europe,” he said. “It’s a competitive point of differentiation that we offer to our wholesalers, and the brand is proud of it – to not just walk in and see earth tones, which is what we see from a lot of U.S. brands.”
To date in the apparel category in the U.S., La Sportiva has seen the most success with its climbing pants, Green said.
Repurposing an Old Bank Vault in Boulder
La Sportiva originated in the Dolomites in Italy in 1928, making boots for lumberjacks and farmers. It evolved from hiking and work boots to ski boots and climbing shoes, the latter being a category that it leads along with one or two other brands, according to retailers The Daily has interviewed.
The brand has continued to grow and expand its product offerings, much of which are on display at this store.
La Sportiva mountaineering section inside the former bank vault. Photo by The Daily.
The new Boulder store is in a former bank, and in the back, there is an old vault that could not be removed. So the company turned it into an homage to a refugio, which function as “hiking hostels” in the Dolomites where people can sleep on multi-day treks. Inside the old vault is where the brand displays much of its mountaineering footwear. The company included another nice touch in the former vault – an espresso machine.
New Products
Inside the bank vault bivouac, Hendricks highlighted the La Sportiva G-Summit technical mountaineering boot. It gives the wearer an opportunity to ice climb or to use it on mixed terrain. With a removable liner, the boot can be warm during high-altitude mountaineering or lightweight for expeditions in challenging climates.
La Sportiva G-Summit boot. Photo by The Daily.
The Aequilibrium LT GTX for women is another notable product for its lightweight construction along with durable materials. The “double heel” allows a hiker to heel plunge on steeper, snow-covered terrain.
The TX4 R approach shoe works well on Boulder’s nearby Flatirons. That shoe can be resoled, and Hendricks pointed to that as a more sustainable offering.
La Sportiva’s TX4 women’s shoe. Photo by The Daily.
Exclusive to the Boulder store is a collaboration with rock climber Adam Ondra called the Ondra Comp. “Ondra is one of the strongest climbers in the world and this is likely the shoe that he’ll use in the Olympics,” Green said. “We have a small batch that’s exclusively available here.”
Looking ahead, Green said the store is working on more community engagement, including events that feature La Sportiva’s athletes.
“We didn’t do a lot of that in the old space,” Green said.
Bart Schaneman can be reached at bart@ordaily.outdoorretailer.com.
