Just in time for the holidays, Southern California-based global lifestyle brand UGG® (a division of Deckers Brands [NYSE: DECK]) debuts a new flagship store at 530 Fifth Avenue in New York City (on the corner of 45th Street). This new concept marks the first of its kind, representing the pinnacle expression of UGG®, embodying the UGG® brand’s heritage and DNA, while showcasing the breadth of the line. A curated fleet of flagship stores will be rolled out globally in 2021 and beyond.
Built to reflect the brand’s evolution from the iconic Classic boot to a full lifestyle brand that offers an expansive collection of footwear, ready-to-wear, accessories and home, the multi-level, 12,842 square foot store reflects and reimagines the brand’s California roots. UGG® has always been an emotional brand because of the way it makes you feel, and the new design is meant to transcend reality to characterize both the emotion and warmth of the California lifestyle that captivates the world. From nature to home and back again, this journey captures the aura of the UGG® brand by highlighting the specific qualities of a California landscape that defines it – light, texture and air. Designed by Los Angeles-based architecture studio Florencia Pita & Co., in partnership with San Francisco-based Quezada Architecture, the store will feature exclusive items and experiences throughout the years.
“We are thrilled to launch the new UGG Flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York City,” said Stefano Caroti, President of Omni Channel, Deckers Brands. “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 first flagship store in NYC and connect with the local community, UGG® regionalized their holiday FEEL LOVE. campaign and features three courageous New York-based real-life heroes. Life in 2020 has changed immeasurably, but humanity has met its challenges with resilience, courage, and above all, love. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary people, and the holidays are a time to celebrate them. The stories of King’s County Distillery Co-Owner Colin Spoelman, ICU nurse Kimberly Llanto, and restaurant owner Melba Wilson and their kindness, generosity, and public service inspire all. Building upon FEEL, the brand’s platform and #UGGTOGETHER, a giveback program the brand launched in April 2020 as a response to the global pandemic, UGG® is yet again celebrating real-life heroes whose stories exemplify the spirit of giving.
“A gift is an expression of love and so is giving back,” said Andrea O’Donnell, President of UGG® & Koolaburra by UGG® of Deckers Brands. “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.”
Native Kentuckian Colin Spoelman is a trained architect and founder of Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn. When the pandemic hit, he switched over the distillery’s production facilities to make hand sanitizer and distributed 15,000+ bottles throughout the five boroughs to frontline workers and anyone that asked.
Kimberly Llanto followed her mother into nursing. She started her career in 2019 as an acute surgical nurse, but when the pandemic happened in New York, she quickly transitioned to caring for COVID-19 patients. She spent six months as a COVID-19 ICU nurse and began using her social channels to encourage and support nursing students and new nurses during this challenging time.
As Melba Wilson likes to say, she was “born, bread, and buttered in Harlem.” She’s the owner of Melba’s Restaurant, the president of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, and a board member of the Opportunity Charter School and Harlem Park to Park. To help her community through the pandemic, Melba’s has been providing family-style meals at a discounted rate and set up fundraising efforts to support her staff while restaurants were shuttered.
Charitable Donations:
UGG® is proud to donate $10,000 to each charity proposed by the campaign’s real-life heroes.
1. Kimberly chose Welcome to Chinatown, a grassroots organization to support small businesses in NYC’s Chinatown affected by the xenophobia surrounding the pandemic.
2. Melba selected Team Unity, Inc. who devotes its energy to passionately advocating for the need of Multicultural Education in schools and community primarily through arts, culinary and sciences in the Greater New York City Metropolitan Regions.
3. Through Colin we will support, The Nearest Green Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Nathan “Nearest” Green’s legacy – a slave who is said to have been responsible for teaching a young Jack Daniels the art of whiskey making – through a legacy scholarship fund intended to give recipients the education that Nearest, who was unable to read or write, was unable to receive.
Earlier in the year, UGG® donated $1 million through its ‘Better Together’ initiative—the focus of this aid was to help those in need, on both a national and local scale, aiming to bring comfort and relief during the global pandemic through cash and product donations. One of those partnerships was in support of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public healthcare system in the nation who cares for all, regardless of ability to pay or immigration status. In the COVID-19 crisis, their dedicated, compassionate, brave workforce of more than 42,000 employees are on the frontlines caring for New Yorkers in Emergency Rooms, ICUs, community health centers and nursing homes.
UGG® In Store Giveaway:
Customers who make purchases at the new Flagship will have the opportunity to nominate someone they deem an everyday hero at an instore kiosk. Through ‘Buy One, Give Love’, UGG® will select notable recipients to receive gift cards to redeem for product. The initiative will run from Nov. 19 to Nov. 27 with prizes distributed the week of Nov. 30.
Hero Discount and Hours:
Knowing many heroes work off hours, UGG is opening the doors to its flagship specifically to serve these brave individuals. Starting Nov. 22 and every Sunday until the end of the year, military, health care, fire and police workers can shop early from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST and receive 10% off full price items.
UGG® Social Media Giveaway:
To spread the love further, on Nov. 16, UGG® is bringing back the highly-engaged ‘Real-Life Heroes’ social media giveaway by inviting the brand’s followers on Instagram to nominate their own real-life heroes for a chance to thank them with the gift of UGG®.
Starting on Nov. 16 and ending on Nov. 30, UGG® will conduct its holiday ‘Real-Life Heroes’ nomination process each Monday with an in-feed giveback post. The next day, UGG® will randomly select 250 of the nominees tagged on the post. The brand will then direct message each of the 250 nominees letting them know they’ll be rewarded a special UGG® code, valued at $120, to be redeemed on ugg.com.
As one of the most gifted footwear brands in the world, UGG® has a special gift for everyone. In the local NYC FEEL LOVE. campaign, Colin features the Neumel, an iconic heritage chukka combining premium materials and effortless style. He is also seen in the Keefe Sherpa jacket.
Melba dons the brand’s iconic Classic Mini. She is also seen in the new Elaina Jacket, a plush staple in UGG’s new Ready-to-Wear offering. Her son, Salif, wears the brands Butte boot which is rugged on the outside and cozy on the inside, it’s made from waterproof full-grain leather and lined with soft Sherpa, adding innovative UGGpure™ wool blend for all-day wearability. He also sports the luxuriously cozy Niko Sherpa crewneck.
Kimberly wears the cozy statement show, Fluff Yeah slide and the silky soft Mandy Hoodie.
From luxurious footwear to cozy apparel, eye-catching accessories to the finest in home furnishings, UGG® truly has something for everyone on any gift list. To give the gift of UGG® this holiday season, the full offering can be found on ugg.com.
Visit the new UGG® Flagship store at 530 Fifth Avenue in New York City starting Nov. 19 and learn more about the store and real-life NYC heroes here.
