Ecoalf expands into the United States with a subsidiary and store in Los Angeles
Roberta HERRERA
Ecoalf has harbored grand ambitions from its inception, not only in terms of innovation and recycling to transform ocean waste into high-value fashion designs but also in its business scope. After making its mark in Japan, Paris, and Milan, the company’s international aspirations have led it to expand in the United States.
“In terms of expansion, we are quite ambitious, with a strong international focus. In line with this philosophy, we are finalizing contracts to enter the U.S. market. We’re starting from scratch, assembling teams and establishing ourselves in California,” explained Javier Goyeneche, the company’s founder, after the presentation of its Wellness line in Madrid.
This new range, marking the brand’s entry into the personal care sector, includes six products (shampoo, soap, deodorant, moisturizer, sunscreen, and lip balm) formulated without water and plastics. The line was developed in collaboration with the Spanish laboratory RNB and is available in Ecoalf’s physical and online stores, as well as at a selection of retailers within and outside of Spain.
Ecoalf, in partnership with a local associate, will establish a subsidiary in the United States and set up its headquarters in Los Angeles. In the same city, the company plans to open its first store, projected for the spring of 2024.
“From there, we will build the e-commerce, warehouse, and ultimately the structure because the brand has not had a presence in the country until now,” the executive elaborated.
Their five-year plans for the U.S. market involve adding between six and eight stores. While they don’t rule out collaborating with department stores in the future, for the time being, the company aims to maintain control over its distribution in the country. Regarding distribution, their perspective is to balance the weight among channels (retail, online, and wholesale) in the U.S., which will be a departure from the European market, where Ecoalf records 60% of sales through multi-brand stores, 28% in retail, and the rest online.
Expanding into Europe
On this side of the Atlantic
“We opened a store in Paris last year, one in Milan this year, and we’ll probably open one in London in the first quarter of 2024. Perhaps we’ll inaugurate a second store in Germany and Italy, as well as another one in Madrid. In total, next year we will launch four or five new stores in Europe,” said the company’s founder.
In Japan, where they operate through a joint venture with Sanyo, they already have three points of sale, but before the end of 2023, they will open two new shop-in-shops, and next year, between four and five spaces, as disclosed by the company’s founder.
What about the Spanish market? “The brand is performing well in Spain, but we don’t want to oversaturate it. We have 350 multi-brand clients, and our intention is not to flood the market. Additionally, we are expanding within product families: if jackets accounted for 70% of our revenue years ago, they now represent less than 36%,” Goyeneche explained.
Ecoalf anticipates reaching around €60 million in revenue in 2023, and in terms of products, after launching its sport and beauty lines this year, it currently has no plans (for now) to continue diversification. “We will expand the sports category, entering disciplines like racket sports,” he added.
Beyond international expansion and consolidating its recently created product lines, Ecoalf’s focus remains on innovation and sustainability.
“We have a project for next summer involving materials with a positive impact and regenerative cotton. Apart from that, we’ve managed to make around 70% of our collection monofilament, which facilitates recycling and circularity of garments. We’re working extensively to measure our impact with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030. This entails intensive work with the supply chain. As a company, we are also obsessed with the issue of microfibers and water consumption,” the executive concluded.
