Salomon unveils larger, newly designed branded store in Chamonix
Salomon has re-opened its newly designed branded store in Chamonix, France, featuring a re-designed interior to attract outdoor enthusiasts and trail runners.
The store, on the famed Rue du Dr Paccard shopping strip in central Chamonix, includes an all-new visual environment, a new product organization based on sports categories and a dedicated area for street-inspired customers.
The Chamonix location, which is operated in partnership with Jeff Coquoz, is the first of Salomon’s European branded stores to be outfitted with the company’s recently unveiled “Tomorrow is Yours” brand signature, which aims to inspire a younger, wider audience of outdoor enthusiasts and athletes to unleash the best version of themselves.
One of the world’s skiing meccas in winter, Chamonix also attracts hikers, climbers and trail runners from around the world. As the home to major trail-running races, including the Salomon-sponsored Marathon du Mont Blanc, Chamonix has become as popular with trail runners as it is with skiers.
The new 230-meter Salomon branded store in Chamonix is a year-round, one-stop shop for all the Equipment, Apparel and Gear needed for each of those outdoor pursuits. The store uses photographs of awe-inspiring landscapes, athletes in motion, and matching textures to create an enhanced visual environment. The walls and panels have been changed from black to white in order to create a brighter, more welcoming environment. Large windows invite customers to step from the street into this new Salomon universe.
The store has also been re-organized from a category-oriented layout—where products were grouped into skis, footwear, apparel, and bags—to a sport-first layout. For example, that means visitors will now be able to find all trail-running products (shoes, clothing, accessories, and running vests) in one dedicated area, while other sections of the store will showcase hiking, road running, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, and ski touring products. Finally, to answer a growing demand for Salomon’s SportStyle footwear range, the Chamonix store now has a dedicated area that will showcase the newest sneaker collection throughout the year.
In addition, the store offers multiple services and, thanks to a partnership with Green Wolf, customers can also bring their old gear, apparel and accessories to have them repaired. The shop’s calendar is full of community activations, from athlete appearances and product testing sessions to running events and workshops on mountain safety.
“Opening this new, ultra-modern retail location in Chamonix is a big step for Salomon because it allows us to reinforce our unique multi-sports expertise directly to our consumers in one of the most inspiring mountain towns on the planet,” said Pascal Clausse, Vice President, Global Direct to Consumer for Salomon. “Overall, this new retail concept has been designed to create a better connection between the global brand in Annecy and our retail locations and, by extension, with our loyal community of outdoor lovers. We’re excited to deliver tailored services to rent or repair your gear within a more inviting and immersive in-person brand experience. And this goes beyond our full range of premium Salomon products to include a growing offering of community events and gatherings.”
Chamonix is the first Salomon branded store in Europe to fully implement the new “Tomorrow is Yours” brand identity. The concept has already been applied and tested successfully in several stores in China, which emphasize Salomon’s urban-inspired offerings. The company will continue to expand its presence in key epicenters around the world with store expansions and new store openings in 2023, each with a similar design to the Chamonix location.
“In September, we launched our new Tomorrow is Yours brand direction across our digital, social and e-commerce platforms, and the reaction from our community has been extremely positive,” said Franco Fogliato, President and CEO of Salomon. “In recent years, we have seen increased interest in the brand and our products from a new, younger audience of consumers, often in urban settings. To continue to connect with our core consumers and our new fans, we recognize the importance of providing them with a great and consistent in-person experience in our brand stores, both in mountain towns and in our urban retail locations. In the coming months, we are aiming to increase our presence in key epicenters via new brand stores like this Chamonix location. This is just the beginning.”
