Amsterdam-based lifestyle fashion brand Scotch & Soda announced an acceleration of its growth strategy which includes the opening 15 new brick-and-mortar stores and 7 new shop-in-shops by the end of the year in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and the Middle East.
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The year-end retail expansion includes new directly operated and franchise stores in key global cities such as Paris, Madrid, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Gothenburg, Riyadh, Mumbai, Bucharest, Dortmund, Stuttgart and Perth.
The brand is also officially launching its first digital store on Tmall in China following a soft launch in August, the first commercial initiative since the brand started operating directly in the country in July, with brick-and-mortar store openings to follow soon in key Chinese cities. Scotch & Soda also recently launched its Weibo, Little Red Book, WeChat and Douyin social media accounts to support the brand’s awareness in the region.
Frederick Lukoff, CEO, commented, “We are very proud to announce that Scotch & Soda is accelerating its growth strategy. It Is indeed a very exciting time for our company despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the retail Industry. We are pursuing the expansion of our retail network at a global level, strengthening our footprint in markets where we are already present, as well as entering key markets such as China, that we see as full of potential to reach new customers and introduce them to our brand.”
In key markets in Europe, a new 127-square-metre store will open in the Saint Germain neighbourhood of Paris, Scotch & Soda’s first location on the Left Bank and the fifth directly operated store in the French capital. It follows the opening of recent locations in Nice at the Cap3000 mall in July and in Levallois-Perret on the outskirts of Paris in September. A second store will open in Madrid in the Salamanca historic district of the Spanish capital by the end of October.
The presence of Scotch & Soda in Germany will continue to expand over the next few months with the opening of the brand’s first franchise store in the country in Sindelfingen, near the city of Stuttgart. Additionally, a directly operated store will open in Dortmund in December, bringing the brand’s store count in Germany to 34 by the end of 2021 following the opening of two new stores in Berlin this summer.
Scotch & Soda also relocated in the city of Wijnegem to a 187-square-metre store following the opening of its 26th store in Belgium, another key market for the brand. Located in the city of Turnhout, in the Flemish province of Antwerp, the 171-square-metre store is housed in the recently opened Turnova shopping centre.
In the United States, Scotch & Soda will open two new directly operated stores in October, a location in the King of Prussia shopping mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the brand’s second store in the city. In the same month, Scotch & Soda will open a location in Charlotte, North Carolina. Located in the SouthPark Mall, it will be the brand’s first address in Charlotte.
Since January, Scotch & Soda has already opened a total of 34 brick-and-mortar stores and 27 shop-in-shops, which will bring the brand’s total retail and franchise portfolio to 249 stores and 280 shop-in-shops globally by the end of the year.
All facades will carry the new brand logo revealed in March, which embraces the symbol of unity at the heart of Scotch & Soda’s name, the ampersand, which follows the delicate movement of a thread attached to the eye of a needle, nodding to the craftsmanship that goes into the brand’s collections.
Interiors will carry Scotch & Soda’s “Free Spirit” new store design concept launched earlier this year. Inspired by the power of self-expression and the free spirit of Amsterdam, the city where the brand was born, the concept combines warm colours and sleek design elements to connect the expected with the unexpected, and includes sustainable features such as LED lighting, FSC-certified wood herringbone flooring and new hangers made of recycled materials.
The brand is also expanding its lifestyle categories for the upcoming holiday season and the arrival of its new Spring 2022 collections. Each item will feature the new brand identity, and three new styles of bags will be introduced to celebrate the new logo: a reporter bag and a cross body – both in faux leather – as well as a functional foldable tote bag made with recycled nylon, available in six colours. All new styles will be available exclusively in franchise and directly operated stores as well as online for the first season. The brand is also expanding its iconic BARFLY fragrance line by expanding into new categories such as home and travel size, as well as gift sets.
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The acceleration of Scotch & Soda’s global retail network will be combined with the brand’s omnichannel and unified commerce ambition, to be completed in the Spring of 2022. This follows the integration of RFID technology for stock level optimisation, as well as the opening of a new 27,500-square-metre warehouse in Hoofddorp, in the outskirts of Amsterdam. The new warehouse will include a roof entirely fitted with solar panels and automatically irrigated vertical gardens.