Birkenstock reinforces production in Portugal and prepares to open a boutique in Paris

The German footwear brand Birkenstock is bolstering its production capabilities with a 15 million euro investment in Arouca, northern Portugal, to establish a production unit and create approximately 600 jobs.

Birkenstock has acquired the long-time supplier S&CC Portugal to build a new factory adjacent to the current facilities, which will be ten times larger, as reported by The Portugal News. The construction of this new 13,000 square meter production unit in the São Domingos industrial zone is expected to be completed by December, replacing the old facility.

According to the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP), the Arouca unit will be Birkenstock’s sole production site outside Germany, where the company operates six factories and logistics centers. By increasing its production capacity, Birkenstock aims to meet the rising demand for its shoes and sandals.

Since its stock market debut last October, Birkenstock’s CEO Oliver Reichert has been striving to convince investors that the company can sustain its decade-long success streak by staying fashionable, increasing production capacity in Germany and Portugal, and targeting untapped markets such as China and India, as highlighted by the news agency in February.

The brand, which recorded a 22% revenue growth to 303 million euros in the first quarter of its 2023/24 fiscal year ending in December 2023, is also set to open a flagship store in the Parisian district of Le Marais. This flagship, whose opening date remains unknown, will be located at the corner of Rue des Archives and Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie. In France, where the brand has been led by Clémence Genevard (formerly of PVH Corp) for the past year, Birkenstock currently relies on a network of retailers and its own online store.

Headquartered in Linz am Rhein, Germany, Birkenstock currently employs 5,500 people. Since 2021, the brand has been majority-owned by L Catterton and Financière Agache, a holding company controlled by the Arnault family’s Agache.