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Marimekko Readies U.S. Expansion

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 3/21/2011 5:40:30 PM

New York - Marimekko is continuing to expand its distribution in the United States this year with the opening of a flagship store in Manhattan, a U.S.-based e-commerce site, and extended collaboration with Crate and Barrel.

Marimekko's also plans to increase its presence in home furnishing stores as well as new retail partnerships for clothing and accessories.

The flagship store, set to open this fall, will be located in a historic building, the former Toy Building at the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway on 200 Fifth Avenue.

The nearly 4,000 square foot sales floor will mirror the recently opened flagship store in Helsinki. While the broad porfolio of Marimekko products will be available at the store, the newest products will be the focus each season.

"Opening a store of our own in an excellent location in the heart of Manhattan will support our strategy of building Marimekko's profile and strengthening the brand image," states Marimekko president and ceo Mika Ihamuotila. "It is crucially important for us to be able to ensure wide availability of our products but to do so while introducing our customers to the whole world of Marimekko in our own way."

Marimekko's U.S.-based online shop will be live by this summer. A Marimekko shop will also be added to the Crate and Barrel e-commerce site.

In addition, Crate and Barrel plans to open more than 20 new Marimekko shop-in-shops over the next three years. The first opened last October in Crate's Broadway store in New York. This spring, shops will be opened in New York (Madison Avenue,) Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Operations will be managed by Marimekko North America Retail LLC, a subsidiary established in the United States earlier this year. The business development initiatives in North American market will be led by Lynn Shanahan, who as CEO of brand management firm C2 Group worked with Marikmekko to expand brand penetration in North America.

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