As 2026 kicks off, there are no shortage of footwear retailers and brands that are heading into the new year with ambitious store expansion plans.
From monobranded locations to sporting goods retailers, here are some of the store openings slated for 2026.
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On the company’s third quarter 2025 conference call in December, Academy Sports + Outdoors chief executive officer Steve Lawrence told analysts that the company plans to open up an additional 20 to 25 stores in 2026 with a focus on opening roughly 80 percent of the new stores in legacy and existing markets and 20 percent in newer markets. The CEO noted that as in the past, the company tends to open in new markets in the first part of the year and legacy and existing are more back half weighted.
Oliver Reichert, the German footwear firm’s chief executive officer, told analysts during its fourth quarter conference call last month that Birkenstock plans to open about 40 new stores in 2026. This puts the company on track to reach its 150 store target ahead of schedule. “This will allow us to capture more in personal shopping demand and younger shoppers within our own D2C business and allows us to showcase the full range of our collection,” Reichert said.
In October, Boot Barn chief executive officer John Hazen told analysts during the company’s second quarter 2026 earnings call that the company believes it can operate 1,200 stores across the United States, an increase from its prior estimate of 900, which is more than double its current footprint. As of Oct. 29, 2025, Boot Barn said it would end the fiscal year with 70 new stores opened. And as the company looks towards fiscal 2027, the pipeline includes 20 projected openings in the first quarter, which will begin in April this year.
After opening its first Cloudsteppers concept store in the U.S. inside the La Palmera Mall in Corpus Christi, Texas last month, Clarks is moving ahead with the project’s expansion. In an interview with FN in December, Peter Quirke, Clarks vice president of retail in the Americas, said that the company has already signed three leases for new Cloudsteppers stores to open in the first quarter of 2026 in the U.S. “We have the utmost confidence that what we’re doing is going to work,” Quirke noted. “So, we’re aiming to open another five in the back half of 2026, and we want to end ‘26 with a dozen locations. Still, we’re being selective in where we’re going to open, but we firmly believe in the success of this concept.”
In December, Empire State Realty Trust revealed that Hoka will take over the 4,148-square-foot space at 91 N. 6th Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2026. Details of when the store will open to the public were not disclosed. In July, Stefano Caroti, president and chief executive officer of Hoka parent Deckers Brands, told analysts that while Hoka still has a “very small [retail] footprint,” the brand now has 48 owned and operated stores globally. And following Hoka flagship openings in London and Paris, Caroti teased new stores coming to Berlin and Milan, yet no concrete timeline was announced on the call.
The French mountain sports company noted in November that it will “continue to focus on epicenters” in 2026 and beyond, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. So far, Salomon expects we to open seven to ten new stores in the U.S. in 2026. In EMEA, the brand is planning other locations in Spain, Germany and several key U.K. cities.
According to Chris Hufnagel, president and chief executive officer of Saucony parent Wolverine Worldwide, the running brand is slated to open a host of new stores more broadly in China with its partner. In Europe, the running brand landed in Covent Garden in June with its first London store. And looking ahead, Saucony plans to expand its key city strategy to Paris with the opening of its next “pioneer store” in the City of Light in 2026.
Shoe Station parent company Shoe Carnival Inc. is set to significantly expand the banner, which the company acquired in 2021 for $67 million, as it ramps up its rebanner strategy in 2026. The company said in November that it is on track to operate 215 Shoe Station stores by back-to-school 2026, representing 51 percent of the fleet. (There were 144 Shoe Station stores as of Nov. 20, 2025.) The company also noted that it expects well over 90 percent of its fleet to operate as Shoe Station before the end of fiscal 2028, with remaining locations evaluated for rebannering, outlet repositioning, or closure.
In December, Empire State Realty Trust revealed that Tecovas will take over the 4,174-square-foot space at 89 N. 6th Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2026. Details of when the store will open to the public were not disclosed. When reached by FN, a representative for Tecovas noted that since opening the doors to its SoHo store last fall, the company has “seen a sustained interest” in Western wear from tourists and local New Yorkers alike. “We are looking forward to expanding Tecovas’ presence with this Williamsburg location and bringing more boots to the New York City area,” the rep said.
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