Dr. Martens Bets on Four Store Concepts to Reverse Sales Slump

Dr. Martens posted a 2.9% year-over-year revenue decline for its 2026 fiscal year, ended in March, and it is responding with a brick-and-mortar offensive. The boot maker is rolling out four retail formats — Beacon Stores, Brand Centres, Brand Stores and Outlets — to restart growth.

The first U.S. Brand Centre opened on Nov. 5 in New York's Herald Square neighborhood after renovations. It offers leather care and customization services. Paul Zadoff, the brand's president of the Americas and a Nike alumnus, told Modern Retail the retail revamp is part of broader efforts to "recontextualize the brand."

Dr. Martens launched in the U.K. in 1960. More than 65 years later, the company wants to honor that heritage while winning consumers who did not grow up wearing combat boots. Under a plan laid out in 2025, it aims to engage more consumers, drive more purchase occasions, curate market-right distribution and simplify its operating model.

In July, the company confirmed its fiscal 2027 outlook, citing "particularly encouraging" U.S. wholesale performance. "We are focused on our ambition to become the world's most-desired premium footwear brand and are on track with our strategic objectives," Dr. Martens stated in an update.

Why physical retail?

The store push follows a redesigned website with a storytelling focus and a brand platform called "With Busting Soles" — a phrase found on its boots' heel loops. The retailer is betting shoppers want to touch the product. About two-thirds (64%) of Gen Zers prefer shopping in-store to online, according to a 2024 study by L.E.K. Consulting.

"We sell a product [that] I think truly shines when you take it out of the box and you touch it and feel it," Zadoff said. "People always laugh at me, but I love the smell of leather, and that is something you can't get online."

What do the concepts look like?

Dr. Martens debuted its Beacon Store concept a year ago on Brewer Street in London. It offers boot restoration, limited-time fashion collaborations and a café. Design nods to the brand's roots: tiles from the same supplier as the London Underground and an Icons Wall spotlighting four hero silhouettes.

"I've yet to meet a person who can't remember roughly where they were when they got their first pair of Docs," Zadoff said.

The other three formats are now debuting. Outlets will offer entry at an accessible price point. Brand Stores will focus on high streets and malls with core products and seasonal launches. Brand Centres will target locals and tourists in high-traffic cities; Paris and Munich opened earlier this year, with Los Angeles next.

Brand Centres will not follow one global template, Zadoff said — not "cut and dried, one template, apply it across the world, and off you go." In the U.S., platforms and heels are "fairly important" to shoppers and will be displayed more prominently. Every Brand Centre will carry a "Made in England" wall and a bags-and-leather-goods space. Customers can add initials, logos or special sayings to products. "One of the things we know about many of the Docs consumers is they like to express their individuality," Zadoff said.

Does customization pay off?

Rebekah Kondrat, whose consultancy helps DTC brands build stores, said more brands now install in-store messaging about their origins — Nike's Soho store tells the history of Air Jordans; Salomon's new Flatiron store reads "We were born in the French Alps in 1947." New Dr. Martens customers may not know the brand started in London, she said.

She pointed to customization as a traffic driver — Tecovas offers debossing and boot painting; Crocs' new China concept pairs customers with a stylist for one-of-one products. "I think every consumer is looking for the thing they can't get anywhere else and is personalized just to them," Kondrat said.

But staffing matters. "When the store isn't busy, do you pay someone to sit at that customization station the whole time?" she asked. "Do you make that a dual role? … Is it only on the weekends?"

Zadoff said Dr. Martens will adjust formats based on feedback and watch whether customers return to personalize products or buy items they had not bought before, like sandals or bags. "We are definitely seeing a diversity of consumers coming through the door, and very much, consumers seeking out craft and craftsmanship, versatility and durability," he said.