Allbirds Opening First L.A. Store

Allbirds is winging its way to Los Angeles. The San Francisco-based, environmentally friendly footwear company is opening its first L.A. store in August on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The 2,000-square-foot boutique will be the sixth in the U.S. for the brand, which started with a direct-to-consumer model, and will be created as others are with displays to highlight the natural materials used in Allbirds shoes. The L.A. store will have city-specific touch points, and a service bar with a wall of inventory designed to cut down wait times for customers. “We’d been looking at L.A. for some time, it’s a prime shopping market, but it’s almost like five medium-sized cities,” said Travis Boyce, head of global retail operations for Allbirds. “I spent a ton of time in shopping centers and neighborhoods and we always came back to Abbot Kinney.” Los Angeles is one of the largest markets for the brand, which has done pop-ups in Silver Lake and downtown. Boyce hopes the location next door to Salt & Straw ice cream and across the street from Scotch & Soda will draw locals and tourists. He said there will likely be a special style of shoes released for the opening, with color-coded laces tied to

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