It has only been a little more than one year since Beyond Yoga opened its very first store — landing in a space on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif.
Now, the Los Angeles-based athleisure/activewear company owned by Levi Strauss & Co. has four outposts under its wing. On Friday, it is opening its fifth location, and first northern California outpost, with a 2,200-square-foot space at Broadway Plaza, an open-air shopping center in Walnut Creek, Calif.
“We are super excited. It has been a year since we started this endeavor [of opening stores], and this is going to be an important store for us,” said Michelle Wahler, who cofounded the brand 18 years ago and is the company’s chief executive. “We are excited to be up north where we have a strong following.”
If that weren’t enough, Beyond Yoga is opening its first nameplate outside of California, debuting in Chicago in early November at Fulton Market, a former warehouse district. “Fulton Market is in a lively, up-and-coming area,” Wahler said. “It has great retail stores and amazing places to eat. I think it will be a nice entrance for Beyond Yoga.”
Both locations will offer women’s active and lifestyle items, men’s, maternity, extended sizing and toddler leggings. Just in time for Chicago’s winter, Beyond Yoga has extended its outerwear styles with puffer vests, puffer jackets and sherpa options.
The Walnut Creek store is not far from the headquarters of Levi Strauss, which bought the brand in 2021 for $400 million and has pushed the company’s retail expansion beyond wholesale and e-commerce.
Beyond Yoga was Levi’s first acquisition under the leadership of chief executive Chip Bergh, who has been with the San Francisco-based company for 11 years and will be stepping down in May. At the time, Bergh said the acquisition put the company in the fast-growing and high-margin premium athleisure wear category. Beyond Yoga’s net revenues in 2022 were estimated to be about $100 million.
