Seasalt opens first standalone store in New Zealand

Cornish fashion and lifestyle brand Seasalt is continuing its international expansion with its first standalone store with New Zealand-based franchise partner Ballantynes in Auckland.

The opening marks Seasalt’s first standalone store with a franchise partner outside Europe and continues a longstanding relationship with New Zealand retailer Ballantynes that spans almost a decade.

Ballantynes became the first wholesale account for Seasalt in 2014 and more recently launched the Cornish brand’s first international concept store, which opened as a branded area within the Ballantynes Christchurch store in 2021.

As Seasalt’s exclusive distributor in New Zealand, Ballantynes will continue to sell the brand through its stores and online channels and will open a number of partner-owned Seasalt shops over the coming years. The first of these dedicated stores has opened in the Milford Centre, Auckland, with further locations to be confirmed.

Paul Hayes, chief executive at Seasalt Cornwall, said in a statement: “We are very excited about this next stage of growth for Seasalt in New Zealand. We’ve had an incredible response from customers in the country to date, who love the Seasalt story, alongside the creativity and quality in our product.

“In Ballantynes, we have developed a strong partnership, they share our vision and values and bring essential local market expertise. We are confident this deal will build on our existing foundation in the market, accelerate our growth and cements our commitment to invest in high streets across the world.”

Seasalt names Ballantynes as exclusive distributor in New Zealand

Seasalt has gained a loyal following since launching in New Zealand and the standalone Auckland store will be the brand’s third physical presence in the country, adding to its branded spaces in Christchurch and Timaru Ballantynes' stores on the South Island.

The new Auckland store represents the next generation of retail design for Seasalt, utilising a sustainable approach to reduce the store's carbon footprint by more than two-thirds. This follows in the footsteps of Seasalt’s recent store openings in the UK and concept spaces in the Ballantynes department stores. All fixtures and fittings have been chosen for their sustainable features and with longevity and flexibility in mind, with the brand utilising New Zealand-sourced materials and versatile furniture and fittings created by local makers that can be moved, reused or repurposed.

Maria O’Halloran, chief executive officer at Ballantynes, added: “We are very proud of the relationships that we forge with International Suppliers. Our team appreciate how much they entrust us with their brands and we work hard to nurture them in the New Zealand market. Seasalt is an example of this.

“We are thrilled with the Milford store - it looks fabulous, we know the product will be well received and our Ballantynes team of staff are enjoying getting to know their new Customers. The response has been very positive and we are already excited about our next Seasalt store.”

Established in Cornwall by Don Chadwick four decades ago, Seasalt is a premium lifestyle brand with 69 stores across the UK and Ireland and a thriving online business. It also has hundreds of stockists across the UK and Europe, including partnerships with M&S, Next, QVC and Zalando.