Three months after its soft opening on November 25, 2024, the adidas ‘Home of Sport’ flagship store in downtown Vancouver is drawing strong foot traffic and positive consumer feedback. Located at the corner of Robson and Burrard Streets, this 35,000-square-foot retail space is Adidas’ first North American ‘Home of Sport’ concept store.
The store offers an immersive shopping experience with unique experiential activations, customization options, and an extensive product assortment catering to multiple sports and lifestyle categories.
“We’ve had a great response from the Vancouver community,” said Lesley Hawkins, VP of Retail for Adidas Canada, in an interview. “We opened with a soft launch on November 25th—an odd time to open a store—but it gave us an opportunity to acclimate our staff ahead of the holiday season while preparing for the grand opening event in January.”
Grand Opening Event in January 2025
Although the store had been welcoming shoppers since late November, Adidas hosted a formal grand opening event on January 30, 2025. The event attracted media, influencers, athletes, and customers, with activations throughout the weekend.
“The turnout was really strong, despite snow showing up on the Sunday—which, if you know Vancouver, you know what that does to the city,” said Hawkins. “But overall, downtown traffic has been solid, and we’re excited to be part of the resurgence of Robson Street.”
A Comprehensive Product Offering
One of the key draws of the Adidas ‘Home of Sport’ store is its broad product assortment. Hawkins highlighted the availability of performance and lifestyle categories, including soccer, running, basketball, training, and outdoor wear. The store also features an expansive Adidas Originals section, with popular footwear styles such as the Samba, Gazelle, and SL72.
“The response from consumers has been overwhelmingly positive, especially when they see the breadth of what we offer,” said Hawkins. “For soccer fans, we have a full range of jerseys, including federations, MLS clubs, and a strong focus on our hometown Vancouver Whitecaps. Our running section is anchored by premium footwear like the Adios Pro and the newly released Adizero Evo SL.”
Experiential Retail: Run Lab and Made for You Customization
The store’s Run Lab has quickly become a standout feature, attracting runners of all skill levels. The area offers personalized gait analysis conducted by Adidas coaches and running specialists, using real-time biometric data displayed on a screen during a treadmill session.
“We’re building a community here,” said Hawkins. “We’ve launched weekly runs that start and end at the store, including Saturday morning group runs and Women’s Wednesdays, a five-kilometre run designed for all experience levels. Runners sign up through the Adidas app, and we provide expert guidance to help them improve.”
The Made for You customization zone has also proven popular among Vancouver shoppers. Customers can personalize Adidas apparel and footwear with local graphics celebrating Vancouver culture, seasonal designs, and even personalized jersey flocking.
“We recently offered Year of the Snake graphics for Chinese New Year, and we worked with a local artist to create an exclusive design for our grand opening,” said Hawkins. “As we move into events like International Women’s Day, we’ll continue to offer new customization options.”
In a further effort to engage the local community, the store also features special activations. For Chinese New Year, Adidas hosted a traditional lion dance performance and gave away red envelopes containing gold Adidas chocolate coins with purchases.
Omni-Channel Retail Integration
Beyond experiential retail, the Vancouver flagship is also playing a key role in Adidas’ omni-channel fulfillment strategy. Half of the store’s total square footage is dedicated to back-of-house operations, including fulfilling online orders across Western Canada.
“Our geography is one of our biggest challenges in Canada when it comes to supply chain,” said Hawkins. “This store allows us to ship orders faster to Western Canadian consumers, reducing delivery times to as little as one to two days. While it’s too early to measure the full impact on e-commerce sales, we anticipate a stronger consumer experience as we continue optimizing this operation.”
Will Adidas Open More Large-Format Stores in Canada?
With the success of the Vancouver ‘Home of Sport’ store, could Adidas be looking at expanding the concept to other Canadian cities?
“At this point, there are no plans to open another store of this scale,” said Hawkins. “CF Toronto Eaton Centre shares some similarities with this store—like our customization lab—but the infrastructure in Toronto isn’t set up for the same level of fulfillment due to logistical constraints and the absence of a dedicated back-of-house space for omni-channel operations. Additionally, the proximity of Adidas’ main warehouse outside the city allows for efficient fulfillment without the need for an in-store distribution hub. So, while we’re always evaluating opportunities, there’s nothing confirmed for now.”
While new stores are not on the immediate horizon for Canada, Adidas continues to upgrade existing locations.
“For 2025, we’re focused on revitalizing our existing fleet,” said Hawkins. “The Niagara-on-the-Lake outlet store is currently undergoing renovation, but otherwise, there are no plans for new store openings this year. You’ll have to wait until 2026 for that.”
Editor’s note: Mario Negris and Martin Moriarty of Marcus & Millichap negotiated the lease deal on behalf of adidas. Morguard is the landlord of the building at 969 Robson Street where adidas will be located.
