On 26 April, Swiss athletic shoe and performance sportswear brand On opened the doors to its first flagship store in China at Taikoo Li Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan. In a standalone building in the outdoor mall, On’s new flagship is sprawled across 2 floors, totalling 500 square metres. For the opening, the Swiss brand also worked with 5 running societies in the region to coordinate a run in the city to celebrate the event.
The design of the store is centred around the theme of bamboo, a key part of the flora in Sichuan. Not only is the concrete exterior of the building shaped like the plant, but it also has skylights to resemble the hollow culms of bamboo. The space has a rainwater basin that hosts a small patch of bamboo, and combines alpine and Southwest China elements to create a contrast between technology and nature.
The On China flagship store in Chengdu has the brand’s entire lineup on display, from running and outdoors to gym and tennis, as well as active lifestyle wear. The technology-heavy upstairs space also houses a demonstration of the brand’s LightSpray, along with the sci-fi-inspired Zendaya collab collection.
2025 is the 15th anniversary of On. The Swiss brand entered China in 2019 with its first directly operated shop in Shanghai. It currently has more than 65 shops across 26 cities in China and plans to open its 100th store in the country by 2026. In 2024, On opened its first runner base at the West Bund Dream Center in Shanghai and presented the first unveiling of its LightSpray running shoes, Cloudboom Strike LS in Asia.
This shows the brand’s focus in this key growing market as it expects China to be its 2nd largest market and make up 10% of its sales. With APAC growing 95.6% year-on-year in sales last year, On is sure to double down on expansion.
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