Inside the Debut Atmos Women’s Experience in Philadelphia — and What the Future Holds
The women’s streetwear consumer has long been underserved, and Atmos is looking to change that.
The Japan-based boutique retailer — which was acquired by Foot Locker Inc. in August 2021 — has revealed Atmos Women’s, a space dedicated solely to its female consumers. The concept will launch in its longstanding Philadelphia storefront, which is located at 1509 Walnut Street. Atmos Women’s occupies its second floor, and consumes 1,400 square feet of retail space.
More from Footwear News
“This space is dedicated her, someone who wants to vacillate and challenge the status quo as far as fashion goes. She could come here and get statement pieces or everyday pieces, everyday sneakers or the hottest sneakers,” Atmos USA director of brand and product Louis Colon told FN. “We’re bringing this offering to her through a sneaker lens, for sure, but we also want to accessorize, give her apparel, give her bags and make sure this experience is different from anything else she’s had in retail.”
Atmos Women’s in Philadelphia will include footwear, apparel and accessories from Jordan Brand, Bape and Honor the Gift, among many others. It was curated by women’s buyer Erika Grimes.
Also, trendy emerging women-owned brands that are relevant to Atmos’ consumers will be featured, such as Philadelphia-based accessory brand Room Shop, and New York City-based jewelry designers Seville Michelle and Hannah Jewett. For the opening, the space will house Atmos’ latest collaborative collection with designer Anna Sui.
“Our consumer is sneaker focused but she has versatility. Sometimes she’s wearing boots, sometimes she’s mixing and matching high-low, vintage. She has range and she is in-the-know with sneakers, whether that comes from the people around her or how she grew up and where grew up. She has a lot of flex and range,” said Atmos USA director of marketing and digital Marissa Le.
Courtesy of Gab Bonghi
What’s more, its women’s private label imprint, Atmos Pink, will make its U.S. debut in the space.
“It’s all designed in Japan. It’s essentially contemporary classic pieces with a Tokyo, kind of Harajuku attitude,” Le said. “Some of the looks are boxy, some are more tailored. There is a nice versatility for a modern sneakerhead woman.”
Aside from product, the second floor also has a space dedicated to activations where locals can gather.
“We’re putting equal effort into the activations, the marketing, the storytelling to resonate with the woman consumer,” Le said. “Creating workshops, classes and engagement points throughout the shopping experience that are complementary and unexpected is how we will separate ourselves from the pack and be a bit more progressive.”
From Oct. 22 through Nov. 22, Atmos Women’s will host free events featuring women-owned small businesses and creatives from Philadelphia, as well as New York and Washington, D.C. Some of the activations include dance workout classes from Trillfit, weekend nail bar courtesy of Nailcon, aura photos, floral workshops, sound bath meditations and more.
Courtesy of Gab Bonghi
Although having a second floor open to work with in Philadelphia made the process of creating Atmos Women’s easier, Colon said it was not the sole reason to debut the concept in the city.
“We had the space here, but we wanted to partner in a real, organic way with the community. Most of the Atmos HQ is in Philly, and that was part of the decision making because we have real connections here,” Colon explained. “This is about partnership versus pandering. We’ve seen the market pander to her for a pop moment, but we’re here to be a sustainable business, so we want to actually have a connection in this community. We have a small team in New York, we have a small team in DC, but we felt like Philadelphia was the right place to start to build a community connection.”
In addition to the Atmos Women’s concept launch, the retailer will launch it’s female-focused web store Friday. It will have a separate landing page on its existing Atmosusa.com shop.
“We will have a section of our website that will be our dedicated women’s section. The way we’re approaching e-commerce is definitely different than e-commerce for our men’s business. We’re making an effort to shoot everything on model, because that’s obviously important for our female consumer, and we want the styling to obviously convey the vibe that we’re hoping to have with her,” Le said.
Courtesy of Gab Bonghi
Looking ahead, Colon said nurturing the Atmos Women’s space in Philadelphia is the priority, but he didn’t rule out expansion of the concept in 2023.
“No. 1 is a hyper focus on this store and the execution over the next year,” Colon said. “Part of what we want to do here is continue to do activations and look for more unique partnerships — we’re working on a partnership currently with Seville Michelle. How do we differentiate from the market?”
He continued, “And there’s definitely going to be growth. The option of standalone [stores] is on the table, for sure. The option of updating stores and having a women’s expression in those stores is 100% on the table, too. We’re refining what that timeline and the execution plan looks like, but everyone is excited that this is a real litmus test to go forward — and everybody knows this is going to be a home run and is going to give us runway for more Atmos Women’s.”
Best of Footwear News
Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
