Ugg opened its first flagship location in New York City Thursday. The Southern-California brand best known for its shearling-lined boots said it expects to roll out a “curated fleet of flagship stores” globally in 2021 and beyond.
The multi-level, 12,842-square-foot Midtown Manhattan store offers a wide collection of footwear, ready-to-wear, accessories and home, and will feature exclusive items and experiences, Ugg said.
Los Angeles-based architecture studio Florencia Pita & Co., in partnership with San Francisco-based Quezada Architecture, designed the store to reflect and reimagine Ugg’s California roots, it added.
“We are thrilled to launch the new Ugg Flagship on Fifth Ave. in New York City,” Stefano Caroti, president of omni-channel at Ugg’s parent company Deckers Brands, said in a statement. “As the pinnacle expression of our brand, we will showcase the breadth and depth of Ugg as a true lifestyle brand and provide the customer with the ultimate brand experience.”
To celebrate the store’s opening, Ugg said it is centering its holiday Feel Love campaign around New York City “heroes.” The three individuals highlighted in the campaign—Kings County Distillery founder Colin Spoelman, Covid-19 ICU nurse Kimberly Llanto and Melba’s Restaurant owner Melba Wilson—each picked a charity to which Ugg will donate $10,000.
Spoelman, who used his distillery’s production facilities to make hand sanitizer and distributed more than 15,000 bottles, chose The Nearest Green Foundation. The group is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Green—a slave who is said to have taught Jack Daniels the art of whiskey making—through a legacy scholarship fund.
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In addition to spending six months as a Covid-19 ICU nurse, Llanto used social media to encourage and support nursing students and new nurses during the pandemic. She chose Welcome to Chinatown, a grassroots organization to support small businesses in New York City’s Chinatown affected by the xenophobia surrounding the pandemic.
Wilson, also the president of the New York City Hospitality Alliance and a board member of the Opportunity Charter School and Harlem Park to Park, provided family-style meals at a discounted rate and set up fundraising efforts to support her staff while restaurants closed. She chose Team Unity, a group that advocates for the need of multicultural education in schools and community primarily through arts, culinary and sciences.
“A gift is an expression of love and so is giving back,” Andrea O’Donnell, president of UGG and Koolaburra by UGG, said in a statement. “To launch our flagship in New York City, we wanted to recognize those brave people and innovators who give back every day of the year and ask our community to honor friends, family and colleagues who do the same. In these turbulent times feeling love is the best antidote I can think of.”
Earlier in the year, Ugg donated $1 million through its “Better Together” initiative, including in support of NYC Health + Hospitals.
Customers shopping at the new Ugg flagship will be able to nominate someone they deem an everyday hero at an in-store kiosk. Ugg said it will select notable recipients to receive gift cards. The initiative will run through Nov. 27 with prizes distributed the week of Nov. 30.
Every Sunday through the end of the year, military, health care, fire and police workers can shop early at the New York City flagship from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and receive 10 percent off full-price items.