HOKA's First-Ever Flagship Store Is as Massive as Its Sneakers (EXCLUSIVE)
Come save your sole at HOKA's first-ever flagship store in New York City, a gargantuan temple to sportswear excellence whose scale is only matched by the beefy sneakers contained within.
Welcome to 9,000 square feet of HOKA love, all the better to showcase those famously massive shoes.
Two senior HOKA executives very kindly walked me through the space on a day prior to the opening of the massive new store, located on 5th Ave quite close to Rockefeller Center (tourists with aching tootsies, your salvation lies within).
The store itself is reflective of the various HOKA pop-up shops that've dotted downtown New York over the past few years, which reflect a similar design language on a far smaller scale.
The flagship shares their open layout but adds in cutting-edge additions like technical call-outs to specific shoes and a digital foot measuring system that makes a Brannock Device look positively prehistoric.
One floor down, a community space conducive to group workouts, conversations, and even a little treadmill action, so much the better for testing some of HOKA's more technical steppers.
Hard to believe this is only the first proper HOKA flagship.
Though the company is only 15 years old, it's already a billion-dollar brand and darn-near omnipresent across New York, which one of the reasons that HOKA is planting roots in town, according to Brooke Lord, Vice President & General Manager.
It's no exaggeration to say that I see HOKA sneakers on a constant basis. Taking a walk in any New York park or down any major sidewalk, trying to count the number of HOKA shoes seen strolling past becomes impossible — there are just too many.
Studies contend that about a third of America's adult population are familiar with HOKA, higher than other young competitors like On and so much so that HOKA has Nike sweating. But Colin Ingram, HOKA's VP of Global Product, told me that he wants those numbers even higher.
HOKA wants everyone to hear the good news and its unmissable new flagship is like a shrine to giant soles.
I know I'm harping on the bigness of the shoes when there's so much more to HOKA — some of the highlights included a technical parka styled on a mannequin — but this is what got me into the brand and likely the same for so many of its other adherents.
Those other adherents, by the way, wanted in. Passers-by repeatedly tried to enter the store's locked doors as we walked the interior, even though the store clearly wasn't yet open. This is the kind of cultish following that only HOKA inspires.
And who can blame 'em. The flagship store hosts all the HOKA heavy hitters and then some, covering all the typical HOKA departments.
The huge trail shoes that helped make HOKA a crossover fashion hit six years ago are in-stock. So too is the hugely popular Ora Primo mule. A short stride away, some of HOKA's cutting-edge racing sneakers.
It's a cornucopia of what makes HOKA so vital and it's long overdue.
Finally, the Californian company's complete (or nearly complete) lineup, immediately at hand! There's never been a better time to convert to the cult of comfort.
