From Georgetown to Miami, Skims is quickly expanding its retail footprint.
The lifestyle brand—co-founded by reality TV star Kim Kardashian and entrepreneur Jens Grede—opened its first stand-alone, permanent store in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. on June 13, marking an “incremental milestone” for the company.
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The 3,501-square-foot store features Skims‘ iconic rounded edges, glossy surfaces and custom fixtures, in Skims’ signature neutral shades. It will stock Skims’ best-selling core collections such as Cotton, Fits Everybody and Seamless Sculpt, alongside new drops and collections introduced monthly.
“As this is Skims’ first permanent store…we’ve been so meticulous with every detail to ensure that our customers are immersed into the Skims universe,” said Kardashian. “Launching our own store is a major achievement for Skims, so we’re incredibly excited to welcome everyone to shop and experience our best-selling products in person.”
Shortly after opening its Georgetown location, the Hollywood-headquartered brand planted roots over 1,000 miles away in Miami. Like the D.C. location, the 3,721-square-foot store will also feature a mix of Skims’ signature neutral shades and fixtures.
Both locations, designed in partnership with Willo Perron of Perron-Roettinger, share a singular goal: to serve as hubs where both current and new customers can interact with and experience Skims’ products firsthand.
“When we set out to build stores, we sought locations where our existing customers frequent and where potential new customers are already present,” Robert Norton, chief commercial officer at Skims, told Sourcing Journal.
“We also aimed to diversify our retail strategy by launching in a mix of mall and street locations during our initial openings, to better understand how customers prefer to engage with us,” he said. “The stores provide us with the chance to interact with our customers face-to-face and learn from them more directly. Ultimately, we aim to create a more integrated ecosystem where customers can fully experience Skims.”
Although the stores have only been open for a few weeks, Norton noted that Skims already has plans to open new locations soon.
“Our focus is on continued national expansion, and we intend to introduce additional retail locations throughout the year, with Austin, Houston and Atlanta identified as the next key cities for our expansion,” he added. “We have also recently announced our plans for flagship stores in New York City and Los Angeles.”
“We are pursuing a dual approach to our physical retail strategy by launching both flagships and standalone locations simultaneously,” Norton said. “This allows us to test and learn, increase our market agility and apply these insights effectively.”