Outdoor footwear brand Merrell has just opened its first Asia-Pacific flagship at Emporium Melbourne.
The store, operated by local licence holder Accent Group, spans more than 400sqm and is organised around four of the brand’s categories: Hike, Trail, Hydro and Lifestyle. Ambient soundscapes will play through the space as customers browse.
In a first for the brand, the store will also stock third-party labels, with a curated edit of outdoor and outdoor-adjacent brands Gramicci, Pyra and P.A.M. sitting alongside Merrell’s own range. According to the brand, this move reflects a Merrell customer who is increasingly interested in style, culture and community as well as performance.
“Merrell Emporium is a global first, and it shows Australian customers a side of Merrell they haven’t seen before,” said Accent Group brand general manager Joel Biggins, who oversees license brands Merrell, Saucony, Timberland and Vans.
According to Biggins, bringing Gramicci, P.A.M. and Pyra into the mix creates a complete offer that spans trail to street, and Melbourne is intended as a starting point.
“We’re excited about the potential to roll it out further,” he said.
The launch event last Friday included an upcycling studio from Unwanted FC, which reworked Merrell archive pieces and old samples into one-off items for guests. Other activations included chess with the All Tribes Are Beautiful (ATAB Lab) crew, tarot readings from Radical Self, and a Grand Canyon-themed selfie room dubbed The Look Out Room.
Merrell already operates stores around Australia – including 10 outlets and three standalone stores – and is wholesaled through partners including Anaconda and Kathmandu. The Emporium flagship is the brand’s most ambitious Australian retail move to date.
The local push comes as Merrell builds momentum globally. Parent company Wolverine World Wide, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reported that Merrell revenue rose US$50.6 million in fiscal 2025, the year to January 3, 2026. The brand has now recorded six consecutive quarters of growth, driven by its core Speed franchises and new lifestyle product, particularly through wholesale and international channels.
Merrell sits within Wolverine’s Active Group alongside Saucony, Sweaty Betty and Chaco. The division lifted revenue 13 per cent to US$1.41 billion for the year, while group revenue rose 6.8 per cent to US$1.87 billion. International markets accounted for 52.2 per cent of group revenue, up from 49.1 per cent the year prior, and Asia Pacific revenue climbed to US$181.7 million from US$150.9 million.
Wolverine directly operates 128 retail stores across the US, UK and Italy, along with 39 direct-to-consumer eCommerce sites. In markets such as Australia, it relies on a network of third-party distributors and licensees.
The group expects Merrell to deliver mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2026.