BIRKENSTOCK LEAVES ITS FOOTPRINT IN BOLOGNA
LINZ AM RHEIN, Germany and BOLOGNA, Italy, May 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 20th, BIRKENSTOCK opens a new store in Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region and one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities. Building on its successful debut in Milan last year, the brand continues to expand its footprint across northern Italy.
Young and dynamic yet rich in heritage, Bologna is an ideal home for BIRKENSTOCK. Its portico-lined streets and vibrant piazzas are alive with creativity, fueled by a thriving community of innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs. A place where tradition inspires progress and where new ideas take shape against a backdrop of rich heritage and unmistakable Italian vitality – ready to explore the footbed and BIRKENSTOCK's iconic designs firsthand.
A STORE INSPIRED BY BOLOGNA
BIRKENSTOCK's new store celebrates terracotta, the city's signature material, by incorporating it into its floors and into some artefacts which are mostly made of clay by one the last traditional clay manufacturers, who also created a one-meter-long footbed hanging on a wall
One of the 130-square-meter store's highlights is its porticoes, which echo the walkways that cast shadows over pedestrians on Via Farini. With over 62 km of arcades, Bologna is known as the City of Porticoes. Officially named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021, the porticoes became a defining symbol after the Municipality of Bologna decreed in 1288 that all buildings must include them. Their height had to reach a minimum of 2.66m, allowing a man on horseback to pass through ... even while wearing a hat.
Furniture made with rammed earth, an ancient technique introduced in Europe by the Romans that compresses soil and stone into durable walls, shares space with aged leather and locally sourced, naturally weathered wood. Cork elements and 1950s Italian work stools add character, while lighting fixtures crafted from natural jute fibers – sourced directly from BIRKENSTOCK's footbed production – complete the design.
ICONIC MEETS CONTEMPORARY
With its latest retail destination, the German brand with shoemaking roots dating back more than 250 years will bring its legendary footbed to Bologna's vibrant communities. The space will be an anchor point bringing the product universe and its core values of quality, function and tradition to life and invites loyal fans and new footbed lovers to immerse and explore – to walk as nature intended. The store showcases BIRKENSTOCK's iconic clog and sandal styles alongside contemporary closed shoe styles, seasonal designs, shoe care products, accessories as well as the Care Essentials range.
INFORMATION FOR MEDIA
Store Address: Via Farini 3, 40124 Bologna
Opening Times: Mondays – Saturdays; 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Store Imagery: Download
Photo credit: BIRKENSTOCK/Maarten Willemstein
ABOUT BIRKENSTOCK
BIRKENSTOCK is a global brand which embraces all consumers regardless of geography, gender, age and income and which is committed to a clear purpose - maintaining foot health. Deeply rooted in studies of the biomechanics of the human foot and footed on a family tradition of shoemaking that can be traced back to 1774, BIRKENSTOCK is a timeless «super brand» with a brand universe that transcends product categories and ranges from entry-level to luxury price points while addressing the growing need for a conscious and active lifestyle. Function, quality and tradition are the core values of the lifestyle brand which features products in the footwear, sleep systems and natural cosmetics segments. BIRKENSTOCK is the inventor of the footbed and has shaped the principle of walking as intended by nature ("Naturgewolltes Gehen").
With around 6,200 employees worldwide, BIRKENSTOCK is convinced that how things are made matters as much as the product itself. To ensure these quality standards, the Group operates a vertically integrated manufacturing base and produces all footbeds in Germany. In addition, BIRKENSTOCK assembles over 95% of all products in Germany and sources over 90% of materials and components from Europe. Raw materials are processed to the highest environmental and social standards in the industry. For materials testing BIRKENSTOCK operates state-of-the-art scientific laboratories.
Headquartered in Linz am Rhein, the BIRKENSTOCK Group also operates its own sales offices in the United States and Canada as well as in Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Dubai, Singapore, China, India and Australia.
Birkenstock Group B.V. & Co. KG
Burg Ockenfels, Linz am Rhein, Germany
For further information, please visit www.birkenstock-group.com
You can find our online shop at www.birkenstock.com
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