On 10 January, American sportswear brand New Balance opened a new location on Middle Huaihai Road in Shanghai, a concept store called NB Grey R. It is the first New Balance shop of its kind in the world. The new concept store is an updated version of New Balance’s elevated retail space, NB Grey, with the “R” standing for “Redefine.”
The 400 square metre shop pays tribute to the Boston-based brand’s iconic grey trainers. The grey colour was adopted by the brand in the late 1970s as urban runners found their white trainers were ruined too quickly. The space of the shop, as one can expect, incorporates the colour grey in various ways. From stone and brick materials to the visual merchandising of the trainers and garments to plants, including the white magnolia, the municipal flower of Shanghai for a touch of hyper-localisation.
New Balance is the only global trainer brand that continues to manufacture in the UK and the US with its MADE lines. As a premium retail space, the NB Grey R prides itself as being home to the higher-end lines of shoes, as well as the Made in Japan collection. As New Balance’s clothing business grew to over 1 billion USD for the first time in 2023, the brand also places emphasis on garments at the Shanghai concept store, with both the thematic grey rails and a more colourful line of American retro styles.
New Balance, founded in 1906, is the largest privately owned sportswear brand in the world. It has been reshaping its strategies for the past 10 years and saw that come to fruition with its record-breaking 6.6 billion USD revenue in 2023. Its target for 2024 was 10 billion USD globally. The brand opened over 480 new shops in China in 2024 in various forms to provide a diverse experience. The latest New Balance NB Grey R concept store is a signal that the brand still believes in the Chinese market and the premium segment.
