News Detail Press

03.06.2021

BIRKENSTOCK ESTABLISHES DIRECT SALES IN FRANCE AND OPENS NEW SHOWROOM AND REGIONAL OFFICE IN THE HEART OF THE MARAIS

BIRKENSTOCK establishes direct sales for France: Since France – with Paris as one of the few metropolises with global impact on contemporary fashion and culture and as a gravity center for the Zeitgeist – is a key market for BIRKENSTOCK with significance far beyond the country's borders, this is only logical. By directly handling distribution of its products through partner retailers and its online shop, BIRKENSTOCK will be able to serve its French consumers even better, to present a more representative selection of the global collection and to showcase the brand in the best possible way while at the same time being able to intensify the dialogue with the French consumer.

BIRKENSTOCK will propose 400 styles for the French consumers, including sandals and closed shoes for women, men and kids as well as legwear and accessories. The BIRKENSTOCK Natural Skin Care line will also be offered with a range of COSMOS certified natural skin care with face, body and hand/foot care products. Thus, BIRKENSTOCK will create a holistic brand experience and provide additional inspiration at the point of sale.

BIRKENSTOCK opens its showroom and regional office in the heart of the Marais. The 400 square meter showroom is located in a former old printing factory, classified as a French protected historic property. The building offers a big open space that convinces with its versatility in usage. Functional and flexible furniture allows the area to be quickly transformed from office to event space, offering room for content productions and providing a meeting place to showcase the brand, products and its values to the market. The interior concept was conceived by Nick Vinson of Vinson & Co, who has sourced new and vintage furniture, furnishings and décor in a palette of warm wood and classic designs from across Europe.

Laurent Hollander, BIRKENSTOCK Country Manager France, will lead the mainline business and full local team consisting of sales, trade marketing, digital. Previously working with the brand for the last two years on a European level, Laurent Hollander established a good understanding of BIRKENSTOCK. Due to his previous experiences in launching and positioning brands in France, he has also profound knowledge of the market. While creating brand presence in France, he and his team will further intensify the relations between BIRKENSTOCK and retail partners on a local level, align on local customer needs and respond more directly to customer feedback.

Pre-Orders for Fall / Winter 2021 can from now on be placed through BIRKENSTOCK directly. French sales partners can contact Laurent Hollander and his team through its showroom and regional office in Paris to arrange appointments and answer any questions they may have regarding mainline collections and potential partnerships.

BIRKENSTOCK France
46 Rue de Sévigné
75003 Paris

Press contact

Jochen Gutzy
Chief Communications Officer

Birkenstock Group B.V. & Co. KG
Burg Ockenfels
53545 Linz

Postal address:
Sedanstraße 4
D-50668 Köln

E-mail:mediabirkenstockcom

About BIRKENSTOCK

BIRKENSTOCK is a global brand which embraces all consumers regardless of geography, gender, age and income and which is committed to a clear purpose - maintaining foot health. Deeply rooted in studies of the biomechanics of the human foot and footed on a family tradition of shoemaking that can be traced back to 1774, BIRKENSTOCK is a timeless «super brand» with a brand universe that transcends product categories and ranges from entry-level to luxury price points while addressing the growing need for a conscious and active lifestyle. Function, quality and tradition are the core values of the lifestyle brand which features products in the footwear, sleep systems and natural cosmetics segments. BIRKENSTOCK is the inventor of the footbed and has shaped the principle of walking as intended by nature (“Naturgewolltes Gehen”).

With around 6,200 employees worldwide, we believe how things are made matters as much as the product itself. To ensure these quality standards, we operate a vertically integrated manufacturing base and produce all our footbeds in Germany. In addition, we assemble over 95% of our products in Germany and we source over 90% of our materials and components from Europe. We process our inputs to the highest environmental and social standards in the industry by operating state-of-the-art scientific laboratories for materials testing.

BIRKENSTOCK runs operational sites in Germany, in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Bavaria, Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Headquartered in Linz am Rhein, the BIRKENSTOCK Group also operates its own sales offices in the United States and Canada as well as in Brazil, Japan, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Dubai, Singapore and India.

Birkenstock Group B.V. & Co. KG Burg Ockenfels,
Linz am Rhein, Germany

You can find our online shop at www.birkenstock.com