Built to Move, Built to Scale: Session Recap: Key Takeaways from Ashley Ketcher, Jill Manoff at eTail Palm Springs 2026
During the C-Level Fireside Chat, “Built to Move, Built to Scale: Vuori’s Next Chapter in Omnichannel Growth” at eTail Palm Springs 2026, Vuori Global President Ashley Ketcher joined moderator Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief of Glossy & Modern Retail. Together, they unpacked how Vuori is scaling its store footprint, global presence, and digital capabilities while preserving a premium brand experience that resonates deeply with modern activewear customers.
Key Takeaways from Vuori’s Omnichannel Growth Strategy
1. Stores are community hubs, not just points of sale
Vuori’s rapid retail expansion (surpassing 110 doors with the recent Brooklyn opening) is driven by a philosophy that stores should be community-centric spaces rather than transactional environments. From live music and local artists in Encinitas to in-store activations that encourage customers to “move with us,” Vuori uses physical locations to deepen relationships and create memorable experiences. This approach turns stores into lifestyle destinations, a model many brands are pursuing to stand out in a crowded activewear market.
2. International growth focuses on depth, not just reach
Vuori’s global strategy emphasizes building market depth and density in locations where the brand clearly resonates, such as Beijing and London, before expanding more broadly. Rather than deploying a one-size-fits-all formula, the team localizes stores through tailored assortments, market-specific design, and partnerships like British tennis player Jack Draper. This method helps Vuori embed itself authentically in new regions, a critical playbook for brands seeking sustainable international expansion.
3. Omnichannel is evolving in an AI-first era
While Vuori continues to roll out omnichannel fundamentals—ship-from-store, BOPIS, and an endless aisle experience—the brand is increasingly focused on how AI is reshaping discovery and shopping. Ketcher highlighted the balance between powerful personalization tools and the risk of overwhelming customers with too much automation. By testing Shopify’s ChatGPT integration, Vuori is proactively learning how conversational commerce and LLMs will change product discoverability, a frontier many retailers are only beginning to explore.
4. E-commerce and stores grow in deliberate balance
Vuori’s growth strategy is intentionally balanced across e-commerce, retail stores, and international markets. Digital channels were foundational for the brand, alongside wholesale, and remain a major growth driver. At the same time, the store channel is expanding aggressively, with internal “friendly competition” over which side will be bigger. This diversified mix helps Vuori manage risk, meet customers where they are, and build brand awareness globally without over-relying on a single channel.
5. Brand marketing and performance media must work together
Historically, Vuori has seen strong results from paid media and performance marketing, particularly through product-focused campaigns across paid social and Google. The next phase, according to Ketcher, is a more holistic full-funnel approach that layers in brand-building efforts, partners like Kaia Gerber and Livvy Dunne, and channels such as linear and YouTube. For marketers, the message is clear: sustainable growth requires both immediate conversion tactics and long-term brand equity investments.
6. Product innovation and category expansion fuel premium positioning
Vuori’s growth is grounded in a relentless focus on product innovation, led by founder Joe and the design team. New categories such as snow and denim have already shown strong traction, extending Vuori’s presence beyond core activewear. Operating in a more premium space, with minimal promotions and only two major sales per year, reinforces brand value and simplifies the financial model. For brands eyeing category expansion, Vuori’s example underscores the power of quality and fabric innovation over discount-driven growth.
7. A balanced customer base is a strategic advantage
Unlike many competitors that began with women’s and later added men’s, Vuori launched with men’s first and then built out its women’s offering. The result is a notably balanced business across genders and a versatile product line that works from gym sessions to everyday life. With a customer base ranging roughly from ages 25 to 55, Vuori benefits from broad appeal and intends to protect the strength of its men’s category as a core differentiator in the activewear space.
In Their Words
I think our challenge, and opportunity, is scaling in a way where we don’t lose the brand in the process. And a lot of brands that start small, once you get well past the billion mark, it can be hard to scale in a way that protects what you built from the early days.
— Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori
Why It Matters for Retail and DTC Leaders
Vuori’s story at eTail Palm Springs 2026 offers a blueprint for brands navigating rapid growth in a volatile retail landscape. As consumer behavior remains nuanced and shopping peaks like Black Friday become less predictable, leaders must balance operational scale with brand integrity. Vuori demonstrates how to use stores as experiential anchors, tailor international strategies, and embrace AI-driven discovery without sacrificing customer trust. For executives, the session underscores that omnichannel success is not just about adding channels—it is about orchestrating them around a clear brand vision and disciplined product strategy.
Actionable Insights for Your Omnichannel Strategy
- Design stores as experiential community hubs: Use events, local collaborations, and activations to deepen engagement beyond transactions.
- Localize international expansion: Build density in high-potential markets with tailored assortments, store design, and relevant local partners.
- Modernize omnichannel with thoughtful AI: Pilot AI tools that enhance personalization and discovery while keeping the experience effortless.
- Balance performance media with brand-building: Invest in full-funnel marketing and authentic partnerships to sustain long-term growth.
Want more insights? Learn more about eTail.
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2026, eTail Palm Springs Room G 26 Day 2_C-Level Fireside Chat_Built to Move, Built to Scale_Vuori’s Next Chapter in Omnichannel Growth
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Good morning, all. Oh, we've got a crowd. It's early. Thanks for being here. Ashley, newer to Vuori. High level before we jump in, about nine months in, what drew you to the brand? I think there are some obvious- Cases, some obvious reasons.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, so I've been a huge fan of the brand for years. My husband got me my first pair of joggers from REI, and when he did it, I was, like, obsessed from day one.
So I think for me, when I got the opportunity to speak to Joe and learn more about the role that I'm in, it was really inspiring to be able to work for a brand that you've been a huge fan of and a customer of, and to then take that into the professional space was very exciting.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Right on. We're gonna dig into your next phase of growth, which you guys have been booming, killing it.
Let's talk 10 years in as of 2025, I think that you opened your 100th store, which congrats. Huge milestone. Tell me about how you see the store, because I always think of, I don't know, maybe I'm mistaken, but Vuori as a digitally native brand and again, with the rapid growth. But what's the role of the store?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. So I think the role for Vuori with the store, our teams have been very focused on building an experience and a community for customers to ga- gather, and to really create a space where it goes beyond the transaction and that they are able to, whether it's move with us, experience in our original Encinitas stores, we would do musicians, we had local artists.
We would bring our product into the spaces with other experiences, and it became a place where people wanted to hang out beyond just shopping. And so as we continue to expand, and, you said it, but 10 years, 100 doors, we just hit our 110th door this month with our Brooklyn open- opening, and so we're very excited to continue to grow this year and bring that unique experience more broadly across the US.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. I was going to say, I was like doing the math. That's about 10 stores a year, but maybe more this year, yeah?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yep. Okay. Yeah, the goal within 25 to 30 doors a year, that's our growth strategy, and so we're on a path to deliver that 25 this year and are excited about what that will bring to the brand.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. You're also doing some rapid international expansion. Tell me what that looks like and your global presence right now. What markets are you in and how... Yeah, how would you describe that?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. So I think, fortunately for the brand obviously very inspired by the coastal California lifestyle, but it's been a brand that has had a huge response rate internationally.
And so we've opened in China, we've got stores in Beijing, we're in London, and our approach through the process is to really isolate which markets really resonate with the brand, and then within those markets, going after more depth and density to ensure that we're building a bigger presence in a market before going really broad.
And so our strategy has been very focused on those markets in particular, where we've seen the success. Yeah. And then finding the opportunity to bring that localized approach to our store openings. So understanding what's special in the market- What does the community within that market resonate with?
How do we modify our product assortment? How do, how does our store design reflect that? Yeah. And so for us, it's really identifying those areas that we have an opportunity with the consumer, and then making that experience feel unique and Vuori in these international markets.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. Do you have an example of a store that's been localized for the local market yeah, in an international area?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. I think some of the London stores are a really good example. King's Road, which was opened, I believe, last year. We have some unique art within that location that was designed specifically for that store. We recently signed Jack Draper. He's a British tennis player, so we've done some really cool activations with him within the market where he has a big fan base.
And so it's really thinking about whether it's through our partners or through that store experience, how do we open in a way that will resonate?
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yeah. That makes good sense. And as you're expanding, I know you as having a strong community maintaining that community and the community vibe, retaining those customers, making it feel special and intimate.
Like, how do you go about that?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, I think our stores play an integral part of that. For us, our, what we spend a lot of time talking about is how do we ensure as we grow, and as we grow rapidly, we don't lose sight of what makes Vuori really unique in a crowded space of active wear brands. And so for us, that does come down to the role of the store and how our customers are able to interact with our store teams, how they're able to discover product, how they experience the different activations that we do for them.
And so our primary focus as we grow is to protect that- Yeah ... and to do it in a way where it doesn't start to feel like any brand that's just there to sell clothes. We really want that experience for Vuori to cut through in all of our markets.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yeah. That makes good sense. In terms of omnichannel, we're talking omnichannel today. What's your take on that? What does that mean to the brand?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. So I think for me, when I think about omnichannel, there are some of the traditional aspects of it that we will of course roll out and continue to expand upon from where we are today. So you've got things like ship from store, BOPIS, endless aisle, some of those like fundamentals that will enable you to have a more seamless shopping experience and to leverage your inventory in a way that's much more efficient and productive.
I think for us, what we're really digging deep into is understanding how does omnichannel change with everything that's coming with AI? Yeah. How do we make sure that our shopping experience with everything that's available is still compelling and effortless and not overwhel- overwhelming for the customer?
Yeah. And I think that's the balance because there's so much technology you can bring into the site-
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yeah ...
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: that can really start pumping product out and building your basket and selling, but it can also be overwhelming and- Yeah Kind of frustrating experience in some cases. So we are really focused on finding the right personalization that feels like a good balance.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yep.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Protecting how our brand shows up through that experience, and then building for what will shift as you go into areas like GEO and what's changing in the LLM models, and how people discover brands, or even where they shop for brands.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. As you expand to all of these store locations, like, where does the kind of your online site, your e-commerce site, where does that fit in?
W- like what, where do you put it, its importance right now?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: I- it's h- highly important. I think for us our growth strategy is very balanced in terms of e-com- Yeah ... store growth, international growth, and really building our brand and brand awareness globally. And so it's a very balanced strategy in terms of the channel contribution.
Yeah. E-com, obviously one of the early channels for us, in addition to wholesale, and so that's gonna continue to be a big dro- growth driver for us. And I know my channel team stores and e-com will be fighting for who's gonna be bigger. We're excited about that.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yeah, definitely. And when it comes to remaining a leader in this competitive active wear, sports wear space as AI search becomes such a, I don't know, competitive space how are you going about that now, getting in front of it?
Is it about Showing up on Reddit and all the long form content. I'm hearing all these tricks, but I don't know, you tell me.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: W- right now what we're focused on is how to build our site with the right content, with the right copy, and making sure that we are structuring it in a way where it will get picked up in those models.
I think there's a lot that's changing around that, and that people are gonna discover product entirely different. And so we have a focus on, one, what can we control? We can control how we show up on our site, the copy we have the blogs we have, and the press we're putting out there, and making sure that we are getting credit for the incredible product we have and the quality we have.
Yeah. We just started, a month or so back, a test with Shopify for ChatGPT. Yes. So we are in their pilot. I think that's an exciting opportunity just to learn about how that will... H- how the shopping behavior changes when you're shopping within the platform. Oh. And then how that improves d- product discoverability within ChatGPT.
So it's early, but we're excited about being part of that.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. A lot of brands are telling me they wanna be part of that pilot. That's nice, for sure. And in terms of digital channels beyond your e-commerce site, whether it's social or maybe partner retailers, like where are you focusing your efforts, I would say, online?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. So it's a combination, I think, just in general across marketing. We're very balanced. I think the brand's been extremely successful in the paid media space, right? And we've grown rapidly through that. Head of paid media's out there. He's done a f- fantastic job. I think that's gonna continue to be a key piece of our strategy.
But when I think about where we're going and long term, it's really bringing the balance to how we show up on the brand marketing side- Yeah ... and with that, partnerships. And so last year, in the last like 12 to 24 months, we've brought many new partners into the brand. So Kaia Gerber, the Gerber family.
Oh. We've got Jack Draper, who is a British tennis star. Livvy Dunne, who's been with the brand for a long time and has been a very loyal partner of ours. But our Strategy and approach to this is finding the partners that will really fit with our brand values, that really believe in the product we're selling, and that can show up in either sport, culture, or fashion in a way that's gonna give our customers the trust they need to purchase the product.
And so I think for us, it's really about finding that right product partner brand mix and where they meet in the middle.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Totally. I forgot about Livvy Dunne. She's been around, yes, working wonders for you guys, I'm sure.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, she's great.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: She's amazing. When it comes to your marketing strategy overall, in terms of, we talk about the funnel and all of that, like, where would you say, again, you're focusing?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, so I, I think similar to what we just talked through, it, it- Yeah ... for me it's really about balancing, right? Yeah. I think the full funnel and ensuring that we are building brand awareness and growing that, and it takes a different approach than just performance or growth marketing.
Yeah. And so we really are building marketing plans that hit full funnel strategies, media across whether it's linear or YouTube continuing to drive growth and success in our product marketing- Yeah ... 'cause we've seen a lot of success through the product we do market in paid social or Google.
Yeah. But I think our focus is really about bringing it all together, layering in and investing in partners- Yeah ... and then pulling that through the entire ecosystem.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. In addition to market expansion and market growth is product expansion, expanding to new categories, is that a key part of your growth strategy?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah. So product will always be a key part of the strategy. Okay. When I think of Vuori and one of the things that inspired me before I was in- inside a member of the team, was how much innovation they put into product. And so Joe and the product and the design team, they are consistently and continuing to innovate on product- Yeah
bringing the best fabrics and product to market, new technologies. And so for us, that's gonna continue to be a key strategy. In terms of new category expansion you may have seen in Q4, we had a snow launch. That's a new category that we saw a lot of success in, so you'll see more from snow.
We launched denim which we'll continue to expand, and we saw great success there. So I think for us, it's identifying the categories that we know our customer is looking for and wants to be able to find in Vuori, and expanding on those, and then building into additional franchises.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yes. Who do you say your customer is?
Just because I've there's been some, I don't know, social posts and such, and this brand is for this customer, and this brand is for this customer, and, people are pegging different brands for certain things. Like- Who is your customer? Who do you want the customer to be?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Look I think it's a hard question, 'cause, our brand is fortunately a brand that it has a really wide appeal to a lot of customers, right?
So it's, when people look at customer, they're looking at age demographics, they're looking at where do these customers shop, men, women. I think what's unique about Vuori and different about Vuori is our men's and women's business is very balanced. And most of our competitors, they started in women's and they added men's.
Yeah. Where Vuori was flipped. We introduced men's first, and then added women's. And so what that has done for us is it's given us a very balanced men's and women's business. Yeah. And because our product is versatile, it is meant to be, pr- performance product but that you could wear it from in between your workout.
Yeah. And it has a lot of functional use outside of just the gym. Yeah. We end up seeing a pretty wide range in customers from 25 up to 55. And we're proud of the fact that we have such a wide reach in terms of who is inspired by the brand and wants to shop the brand. Yeah. And we wanna protect the place men sits within our business, knowing that's a really- it big advantage for us.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: For sure. I posted, "I'm going to eTail, and I'll be interviewing executives from Vuori and XYZ, and P-," I got so many mes- like messages. I didn't know, passionate customer. "I love Vuori for men and women." Anyway, it's exciting to see. What would you say is your biggest challenge right now, coming in, again, nine months in?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, I think obviously anyone that came into the business in 2025 was dealing with tariffs, right? So I feel fortunate that's a little bit behind us, but that was jumping into the thick of navigating what that looks like. Yeah. I, I... the business is doing very well, and we're growing really fast.
So I think our challenge and opportunity is scaling in a way where we don't lose the brand in the process. And a lot of brands that start small, once you get well past the billion mark, it can be hard to scale in a way that protects what you built from the early days. And so I think it's not a challenge, but it's something we're very focused on.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: For sure. I'm throwing you with some wild questions 'cause we have some extra time. So just, you just tell me. Anyway. Let's see where we take this. But I'm just wondering you do come from the industry other brands prior. Coming in it's a unique beast, Vuori. What would you say was maybe most applicable that you were able to bring learnings into this brand, and maybe what was all new for you, and this was something you're gonna get your head around and we'll go from there?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, I... Vuori felt like a very seamless experience to jump into in the fact that it was a brand I already really understood the product. 'Cause I was a in the Vuori store shopping almost weekly. I love the product. So for me, I got into the brand and already felt like I had a connection to the product and a little bit of a step-up on just learning what some of those key franchises were.
I think that the business is very balanced and similar to some of the brands I was at previously, where meaty e-com business, sizable store business- ... but growing, right? Yeah. And scaling. So that felt familiar. In my past, coming from many years at Gap Inc., I spent several years at RH and then I was at Fabletics.
All of those brands had similar dynamics. The biggest difference is I would say Vuori sits in a more premium space.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Yeah.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: And the benefit of that is there's not a lot of Promotions or discounts, marking things down. And so that does have an advantage that also makes coming into the new, into the business a little bit easier to learn the financials and how the model works.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: So rare. Do you have maybe one sale a year? How do you guys approach sales?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: We do two. Technically, we'll have your midsummer sale that's in line with when the market's kind of clearing through their spring and summer inventory. And then we'll do an end of season sale as you get into November, December.
And so not a lot of product, but there is some sale for that customer that's coming and looking for it that time of year. Yes. And last question for you. I hear a lot about the kind of erratic, unpredictable consumer behavior. What are you seeing in terms of behavior? Have you seen recent changes?
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: Are things starting to become more predictable? How would you describe that?
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Yeah, I think it's I think it's nuanced. The shopping patterns in '25 were a little different than what we had experienced... Or what we would've expected, right? I think across a lot of brands in terms of where you expected the customer to show up, how much you expected them to purchase just based on history.
Yeah. I think there was a lot of noise in the market that made that shopping a little nuanced. So you know, we... Black Friday was incredible, but then, it, it came in much higher than we expected and then things died down a little bit as you head into December. So the, just the shopping periods were a little unique.
Yeah. I would say for us, fortunately, we've seen a lot of success and a lot of demand for the product. Great. So it's been really strong. But just keeping up with those, what's going on in the consumer and what's changing in their pocketbook and being mindful of that to make sure that we're there and we can, we have product to offer them in that scenario.
Jill Manoff, Editor in Chief, Glossy & Modern Retail: That makes a lot of sense. Ashley, this was such a great conversation. Yep. Thank you so much.
Ashley Ketcher, Global President, Vuori: Thank you. And for here.