Why Brooklyn Is Perfect for Tracksmith’s Retail Debut in New York City — and Where the Brand Plans to Open Next
Tracksmith‘s lone brick-and-mortar home since 2017 has been on Newbury Street in Boston, in the city’s historic Back Bay neighborhood. This year, however, the style-driven performance running brand has expanded its physical footprint, opening a London door in April.
And on Friday, Tracksmith will open the doors to its third location, a 1,500-square-foot store in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Tracksmith founder and CEO Matt Taylor explained why the brand opted for the borough. “You’ve got Prospect Park, you’ve got a growing race scene, between the mile, the half marathon and the marathon. You also had an interesting dynamic from COVID, where people who were commuting into Manhattan from Brooklyn now are staying in Brooklyn and working from home or in co-working spaces,” he told FN. “And with retail, so much of it is being opportunistic when the right space opens up. We found that spot on Wythe [Avenue]. We visited and knew right away that it was what we were looking for.”
The brand’s new Trackhouse — Tracksmith’s name for its stores — is located at 147 Wythe Ave. To bring the store to life, the brand tapped architect Roach Matthews and world-class interior designer Estelle Bailey-Babenzien of Noah fame.
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The look and feel of the Brooklyn store is inspired by its original Boston location, though with a more elevated execution. Tracksmith built the new space with natural materials, such as steel, glass, brick and terrazzo. These materials are meant to “cohesively evoke a sense of sophistication while also adding warmth and texture without compromising functionality,” according to the company.
The walls of the store are ivory with hints of gold and navy, which is reminiscent of the Tracksmith Sash. To guide consumers through the main level, the brand incorporated a hand-poured terrazzo track that is lined with brass details, which plays off of the elements of an athletic track. Also, Tracksmith added durable oak floors, which it said adds visual interest due to the natural variation in the wood grain, as well as walnut cabinetry with custom fixtures and modular displays.
“Aesthetically, visually, presentation-wise, it’s a step up from Boston,” Taylor said. “When we did Boston, we had less money, less resources internally, so the presentation of this store is quite nice. Also, a huge aspect of Boston is its two stories, which allows us to more easily separate a bunch of sweaty runners coming back from a long run and the retail store. In Brooklyn, we’ve had to think about those things being co-mingled.”
He continued, “In Brooklyn, there’s the same amount of styles — we’re still able to present the line — but we have fewer products out, so it’s a bit more of a boutique feel from an apparel perspective. But it also feels inviting and comforting from a community perspective. You can come in wearing your sweaty clothes and sit on a bench and have a beer after a run.”
Tracksmith will also have a sharpened focus on its footwear in the Brooklyn store. In September 2022, the brand revealed its debut running shoe, the Eliot Runner, a stylish performance shoe created to offer a balance of cushioning and responsiveness.
“It’ll be prominent in the store, it’ll get a lot of attention in the space. It’s not like your typical running store with a shoe wall with 20 different styles. We’ve got the Eliot Runner and it comes in a few different colors,” Taylor said. “We’re going to put that on a pedestal and make that something that you can’t miss when you walk in the door. We’re a footwear brand as much as an apparel brand now, so it’ll play a prominent role.”
Although less than a year old, the Eliot Runner has already exceeded sales expectations, according to Taylor. The exec said the shoe has been its No. 1 product from a revenue perspective since full inventory was available, which was around February-March.
Despite the early success, Taylor said Tracksmith doesn’t have plans for a second shoe — yet.
“We have ambitions to build out the footwear offering. It’s not going to just be one shoe. But there’s no set timing on the next one,” Taylor said. “We have nothing in development, just some ideas and thoughts of where we want to go next.”
Taylor did, however, confirm new colorways of the Eliot Runner will arrive in the fall.
Aside from offering its highly acclaimed product, the Tracksmith Trackhouse in Brooklyn will have a strong community focus.
“We’ve been on the ground learning what we can do to support the communities, the clubs, the teams and the individuals that already exist in Brooklyn,” Taylor said. “We’ll bring our point of view, we’ll bring the things that work for us, but our primary approach to community is how can we add to the community rather than how can we take something away from what is already is there?”
The opening of Brooklyn comes one month after Tracksmith debuted its store in London. That 1,500-square-foot door, which is located at 25 Chiltern St. in Marylebone, was open in April in time for the London Marathon.
From here, Taylor said the brand will take brick-and-mortar expansion slowly. “We do things slowly and methodically. We have an hypothesis around retail. We go and test it, then we learn and evolve from there. We’ve opened London and New York, and we will learn from those and then see what comes next,” he said. “We’ve got our eyes on a couple of different areas, and it will likely be a combination of both U.S. and international to continue to grow the global footprint of the brand.”
One area that Taylor said is under consideration — although far in the future — is New York’s Upper West Side. “New York’s big enough for us that we could definitely support more than one store in the future,” he said.
In the meantime, Taylor confirmed Tracksmith will host a pop-up shop in Chicago in October for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. And in September, the brand will likely return to Berlin with a pop-up shop for the BMW Berlin Marathon.
