During the recent National Day Golden Week, the Canadian premium outdoor brand Arc’teryx saw a surge in store traffic across the country, with the newly opened Wuhan SKP store, which launched on September 30, maintaining high visitor volume. According to Amer Sports CEO Zheng Jie, who disclosed this at a recent investor conference, the group’s brand portfolio, including Arc’teryx, saw a 60% increase in revenue during the Golden Week in the Chinese Mainland.
For years, product innovation has been a key focus for Arc’teryx. Now, the brand’s continuous evolution in retail layout and in-store experience is drawing attention as well.
Earlier this year, Arc’teryx created a 2,400-square-meter ecological experience space—the Arc’teryx Museum. Located in the heart of Shanghai’s commercial district, this new space serves as a bridge between urban and outdoor environments, pioneering a new immersive retail model. It’s not only an oasis for outdoor enthusiasts amidst the urban jungle but also offers the general public a gateway to outdoor exploration.
The new retail space draws inspiration from the Cliff House, bringing the high-altitude landscape experience, typically reserved for professional athletes, into the city. The retail space replicates the grandeur of mountain landscapes.
Image above: The rock wall in the store showcases a steep, realistic texture
A Cliff House typically refers to a structure located on a cliff or steep slope, constructed from materials like stone, concrete, or wood to blend with the natural environment. These buildings offer essential services like accommodation, supplies, and rescue for climbers traversing ridgelines. The tradition of building cliff houses dates back to the mid-19th century, from the Swiss Alpine Club in 1863 to the Appalachian Mountain Club in the U.S. in 1889. Over the past century, cliff houses have been significant to the development and legacy of outdoor sports.
The brand emphasizes that this iconic outdoor structure, symbolizing the heritage of outdoor sports, connects Arc’teryx’s reverence for mountains and professional outdoor culture with every customer passionate about the outdoors.
The visual design of the Cliff House concept store is inspired by rocks, extending the coastal mountains’ rugged cliffs into the urban setting. The snow-capped mountain landscape is incorporated into the store’s spatial design to create a realistic experience and provide outdoor enthusiasts with a refuge within the city. Even before the store’s opening, the innovative barricade design attracted attention. The background, featuring the coastal mountain range that spans Canada and the U.S. West, highlights ten unclimbed peaks from Aylesworth to Goodhope, symbolizing the store’s embodiment of outdoor exploration and the brand’s mountaineering spirit.
Image above: Barricade at Chongqing Starlight 68 presenting the coastal mountain range’s outdoor landscape
The store’s façade is crafted from Cosmos Black granite, one of China’s oldest rock formations from the Taishan rock group. Its distinctive ink-like patterns and rugged texture evoke the steep cliffs, mirroring the brand’s origin in Vancouver’s coastal mountains. This harsh and ever-changing environment has long served as a testing ground for the brand’s products. The store’s design seamlessly blends artistic aesthetics with Arc’teryx’s outdoor DNA, delivering a powerful visual impact to the city.
Image above: Door handle inspired by the coastal mountain silhouette
Meanwhile, Arc’teryx’s long-standing professionalism is reflected in the upgraded design details, recreating various high-altitude outdoor sports scenarios in different areas—from alpine climbing to ski mountaineering. These seasonal displays, updated along with athletes’ journeys, showcase the brand’s detailed approach to catering to the outdoor consumer’s real-life needs, allowing customers to intuitively grasp the specialized performance of each product.
Image above: Display of actual equipment used in alpine climbing, showcasing multiple professional knotting techniques
Arc’teryx stated: “Outstanding industry leaders in retail spaces not only focus on consumer experience and product display but also adopt a long-term perspective with a sense of responsibility, using every touchpoint with customers to convey professional outdoor knowledge. Arc’teryx does just that. The mannequins in the store not only display professional products but also recreate the detailed setups of athletes in harsh environments: harnesses with knotted ropes, backpacks fitted with ice axes and crampons, and safety belts worn professionally. Every knot and setup has been developed through long-term collaboration between the brand and professional athletes. As customers explore the various activity-themed areas, they gain a deeper understanding of the subtle differences between products, moving beyond just online knowledge to an immersive outdoor experience. This aligns with the essence of outdoor activities, bringing people outside to touch, observe, practice, and feel the outdoors. The new store format serves as a prelude to mountain exploration, offering an immediate sense of immersion and a gateway to the mountains.”
Image above: In-store display layout
From the AAC Plaza store in Shanghai to the Arc’teryx Museum and the new store near the VIP Lounge at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, the brand’s retail upgrade strategy is clearly defined:
With deep insights into consumer sports and lifestyle needs, Arc’teryx is exploring diverse retail formats and creating a series of continually evolving store concepts. Its strategic choice of locations, including various city levels and unique venues such as airports—gathering the world’s top high-end travelers—enables the brand to expand its retail footprint. By bringing the ultimate outdoor experience into urban environments, Arc’teryx is inspiring more people to aspire to mountain life and meet the needs of its target audience in different settings. This strategy continuously generates new growth points for the brand, forming a synergy with its presence in high-end commercial sectors.
｜Source: Official Press Release
｜Image Credit: Brand Official
｜Editor: LeZhi
