NEW YORK — Fila may not be the apparel sponsor at the U.S. Open this year, but the company is making a series of moves to regain its stature in the athletic arena, including opening a store on Madison Avenue here.
The 4,000-square-foot shop, located between 43rd and 44th streets, is the first of some 10 to 15 stores Fila plans to open around the country in the next year.
“We are reintroducing ourselves to consumers,” Steve Wynne, president and chief executive officer of Sport Brands International, which now owns Fila, said in an interview. “This is a way for us to show people what we are doing and consumers to see the range of our offerings.”
Since joining Fila last year, Wynne, along with his team, has embarked on a series of initiatives to revive the brand, including scaling back and cleaning up distribution and updating product with more upscale fabrics and sophisticated designs, as well as launching a lifestyle label called Filativa. They also decided to end Fila’s apparel sponsorship of the U.S. Open, after more than 20 years of its affiliation with the tournament.
Fila now has annual wholesale sales of about $800 million, Wynne said. The new store, which had a soft opening in August, showcases the company’s large variety of branded merchandise, including performance and lifestyle footwear and apparel, as well as socks and accessories such as hats, bags and sunglasses.
Designed by Italian architect Giorgio Borruso, the store has an elegant and spacious aura. The wall designs, transparent product displays and even the benches are curved to convey a feeling of motion. Borruso used a number of special touches in the store, such as mirrored panels covering columns to create a feeling of depth, and pads on the benches that are made from the same materials used in the footwear.
“The space is designed to unite elegance, lightness and grace with the heart and core of sport,” Borruso said.
Footwear is set up along a white lacquered wall and includes performance styles for women and men, as well as products from the Filativa subbrand that are designed to appeal to younger customers. There is also an area where shoppers can create customized footwear under the new Fila Adatto program, reflecting the growing trend toward customization in retail. A computer scans the foot to determine the accurate arch and insole.
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Apparel occupies the majority of the store. The company sells products for activities such as running, yoga and tennis, and will begin rolling out a golf line this fall. It’s also testing a new high-end line called Fila Biella that features sportswear in luxury fabrics such as leather, cashmere and silk. Some price points for these upscale products go above $1,000. Most of the footwear and apparel sells for about $40 to $200, said Sheryl Bloom, Fila’s managing director of global retail.
Housed below Fila’s new global corporate headquarters, the store will be a place to test trends and items, Wynne noted. Bloom anticipates the store’s sales will be about $1,000 to $1,500 per square foot annually, which would lead to revenues of more than $4 million.
While the area isn’t exactly known as a shopping destination, Bloom said the company feels it is a good location since there is a significant amount of foot traffic from nearby Grand Central Terminal. Other retailers in the area include Coach, Brook Bros. and J. Crew. The store will be feted at an opening party next Thursday, where Borruso is scheduled to speak about the store and his designs.
Fila had U.S. stores in the Eighties and Nineties, but the last outlet locations were shuttered more than a decade ago. Bloom said the company is close to signing leases in locations such as San Francisco; Coral Gables and Boca Raton, Fla.; Las Vegas; Charlotte, N.C.; and La Jolla, Calif., and all new stores will have the same design direction as the Manhattan location.
Wynne said plans to revive Fila are moving forward. After a few years of financial problems, the brand was sold to a team led by former Fila management in 2003. Wynne joined in March 2004.
“We are finding retail partners who are willing to take a chance on us, and while it’s been tough, the reaction to the line and our new direction has been positive,” he said. “We have focused a lot on cleaning up distribution and on product.”
Footwear has been an area of focus this year, he noted.
“The changes we are making in apparel will be felt more in the spring 2006 season,” Wynne said.
Fila is also taking a series of steps to expand its business internationally, and has signed distribution deals in China, Russia and Japan, Wynne noted.
Wynne, who used to run Adidas America, said he believes the recent consolidation in the industry, including the acquisition of Reebok by Adidas, will present growth areas for other brands.
“Many stores aren’t reducing the amount of vendors,” he said. “We see more opportunities for smaller players such as Fila.”