New Balance Soho

New Balance was founded in 1906 by William J. Riley, an Irish immigrant who established the New Balance Arch Support Company in Boston, Massachusetts. Riley’s first product - a flexible arch support inspired by the three-point balance of a chicken’s foot - gave the company its name and its founding proposition: better balance through considered design (see “The History of New Balance Shoes,” JD Sports Blog, July 2025; Wikipedia, “New Balance”).
The company remained a small-scale orthopaedic footwear specialist until 1960, when Eleanor and Paul Kidd introduced the Trackster - the first running shoe available in multiple widths - which gained grassroots traction through YMCA programmes and college athletics. The pivotal transformation came in 1972 when Jim Davis acquired the then six-person operation on the day of the Boston Marathon; under Davis’s leadership (and continuing family ownership to this day), New Balance grew into a global athletic footwear and apparel brand with $7.8 billion in sales reported for 2024 (see Retail Brew, January 2025).
What distinguishes New Balance in 2025 is its status as the largest privately held athletic brand - a strategic choice the company describes through its “Fearlessly Independent Since 1906” positioning. Under Chief Marketing Officer Chris Davis, the brand has undergone a deliberate transformation from what was once dismissed as a “dad shoe” label to a culturally relevant force, flipping its marketing mix from 70% direct-response to 70% brand-led storytelling and investing in co-authored partnerships with fashion designers (Aimé Leon Dore, Joe Freshgoods) and athletes (Coco Gauff, Kawhi Leonard) who embody what Davis calls “a fiercely independent mindset” (see Glossy, “New Balance CMO Chris Davis,” June 2022; The Challenger Project interview, 2021).
The retail dimension of this transformation has been articulated through a global flagship programme developed with Universal Design Studio and Map Project Office. The design language - described by the studios as positioning New Balance as “the most boutique athletic brand in the world” - deploys nearly ten variations of the brand’s signature grey across wood, metal, resin and paint, while dividing stores into “Fit For Performance” (reflective, dynamic) and “Fit For You” (warmer, lifestyle-focused) zones (see Dezeen, “New Balance Revamps London Store,” July 2025).
The SoHo store, opened 23 October 2025 at 542 Broadway, is the fourth New Balance location in New York City - joining the redesigned Flatiron flagship (reopened September 2025), plus existing Upper East Side and Upper West Side outposts. At 1,800 square feet (with some reports citing 3,400 square feet), the SoHo space is smaller than Flatiron but inherits the same design cues: wood surfaces, neutral tones, and a footwear-forward merchandising strategy that gives prime placement to the Made in USA collection and rotates hero product around the city’s sporting calendar - most notably the NYC Marathon, which New Balance sponsors (see Sneaker News, “New Balance Strengthens NYC Foothold,” October 2025; FashionUnited, October 2025).
The store also features New Balance’s 3D foot-scanning service, where trained Fit Specialists assess customers’ feet to recommend optimal styles - a technical service proposition that reinforces the brand’s heritage in fit and biomechanics while differentiating the in-store experience from pure e-commerce (see New Balance SoHo store page).
Vice President of Retail North America Stephanie Smith framed the SoHo expansion as a natural extension of the brand’s urban strategy: “The energy of SoHo - with its rich history alongside relentless creativity and innovation - mirrors the spirit of New Balance. Opening here allows us to engage with one of the city’s most dynamic communities at the intersection of sport, style, and culture” (FashionUnited, October 2025).