Level Shoes, the Dubai-based footwear retail concept owned by Chalhoub Group, has landed in America with a dedicated e-commerce platform aimed at better serving shoppers in the region.

The move follows the announcement last September that Level Shoes was set to open its first American logistics center in Florida in the first quarter of 2025. With the facility now operational, the company is ready for its biggest expansion yet outside its native Middle East.

Known for its unique mix of shoes across accessible, luxury and emerging brands, Level will offer its curated assortment from key brand partners like Amina Muaddi, Brunello Cucinelli, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Jacquemus, Khaite, McQueen, Miu Miu, New Balance, On, Roger Vivier, Tod’s, Tory Burch, The Row, Valentino Garavani, and others, to the American consumer.

Level noted that it plans to offer exclusive collaborations, limited-edition capsules, immersive activations, and pre-launch designer reveals that promise a unique proposition to the market.

In an exclusive interview with FN, Level Shoes’ chief executive officer Elisa Bruno discussed the move, which has been in the works for the past five years.

“Since I took the helm in 2020, I wanted to ensure that Level Shoes could leave a solid footprint in the market here in the Middle East, and then focus on expanding to new markets,” Bruno said. “Once we realized that this objective has been achieved, and that our customers were asking for us to be present in their own countries, we decided we had to get closer to them.”

The CEO noted that for Level’s American clients, the market is its fourth largest in terms of presence and spend. Following five years of double-digit growth and significant data insights, the company felt that now was the right time to launch an e-commerce presence in the U.S.

“It’s important for us to be able to deliver our merchandise in a way that is timely,” Bruno noted. “That means achieving operational excellence with a solid partner in the U.S. in order to be able to have a hub of distribution, customer service, and any other service that is in the interest of our final consumers. This is what we’ve been able to achieve this year.”

Overall, the Dubai-based luxury footwear and accessories retailer caters to women, men and children with more than 350 brands through its omnichannel customer experience, which includes its app, e-commerce site and active social media presence. The retailer debuted in 2012 with an outstanding 96,000-square-foot store at The Dubai Mall, the largest in the world dedicated solely to footwear, before venturing into online sales.

“There is no other place in the world where shoe lovers can go and have the variety and excitement from well-known brands all in one place that Level offers,” Bruno touted. “We feel strongly about offering products that will our excite our clients.”

As for how Bruno plans to educate the American market about Level Shoes, the word is already getting out. “We soft launched the site and have already seen significant traffic from New York, California and Florida,” the CEO said. “These three areas are responding well with nice shopping behaviors. They’re buying exclusive products and colorways that they would not find otherwise. We have learned a great deal in this short amount of time.”

Next week, Level is “turning up the volume” with a new U.S.-focused campaign, a social media push, and other marketing initiatives. “We’ve created a lot of localized content for the region. We shot campaigns in New York, and have very distinct looks in the men’s and women’s verticals of our U.S. platform,” the executive said.

And the launch of Levelshoes.com marks just the beginning of the brand’s U.S. growth strategy, Bruno noted.  Other plans in the works include Level’s first brick-and-mortar flagship store in the U.S., which is set to open in Miami in 2027.

“Miami is notoriously described as a city that has a lot of interactions and multicultural diversity as well as a lot of tourism,” Bruno added. “It is a playground for brands to explore the more traditional luxury proposition as well as more adventurous trends. So, it’s an opportunity that we want to take and explore.”

But for now, Bruno is focused on building a stable foundation.

“With this launch, we will use this opportunity to learn more about the American consumer and scale up as we move forward,” the CEO said. “We want Level to be the place where people go when they think of shoes around the globe, and we can achieve that by listening to our customers and supporting our communities. So, we will take a step-by-step approach and have an open mindset as we look to expand further in the U.S.”