Recently, global new-concept stores of German professional outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin, owned by Chinese sportswear giant Anta Group (02020.HK), opened first in Changchun and Shenyang, China, and will roll out in Beijing and Shanghai, Munich, Zurich and other cities.
Starting with the store refresh, Jack Wolfskin is advancing a comprehensive revival plan, establishing the brand proposition "Made for Further", returning to the "thru-hiking" scenario rooted in its brand DNA, deeply combining the German engineering ethos with the real outdoor needs of reliability, durability and comfort, and targeting a broad mass outdoor consumer base as it embarks on a new chapter of brand development.
New stores introduce the "hiking supply station" concept
Reinventing the retail experience
The design of Jack Wolfskin's new-concept stores is inspired by the Rifugio, the hiking mountain hut supply stations commonly found along European alpine hiking routes. For long-distance hikers, it is both a shelter from wind and rain and a place to replenish energy, as well as a stop to exchange route information, share experiences along the way and re-equip for the next leg. Jack Wolfskin replicates this real-life scenario, turning its stores into "hiking supply stations" in the city.
The store layout is organized around a Hiking Trail as the main thread, featuring scenario-based zones such as the Power Wall and the Gear Cave, corresponding to pre-trip preparation, progress and resupply during a hike. The path consumers walk through the store is itself a miniature hiking experience.
The store design takes German modernism as its tone, continuing the principle of "simple classics," with a restrained contrast between authentic natural materials and technical industrial materials, carrying the true texture of the outdoor environment and conveying the brand's promise of reliability and durability.
Focusing on thru-hiking
Anchoring a professional moat
Jack Wolfskin was founded in 1981, when founder Ulrich Dausien drew inspiration during a long-distance trek and set out to create reliable outdoor gear to help outdoor enthusiasts cope with complex and ever-changing natural environments. For more than four decades, hiking has run through Jack Wolfskin's product development and brand evolution. Now Jack Wolfskin returns to its roots, making "thru-hiking" its clearly defined core professional scenario.
Compared with ordinary hiking, thru-hiking often covers a thousand kilometers over dozens of consecutive days, traversing varied terrain, unpredictable weather and continuous elevation changes. It tests not a moment of peak performance, but whether people and gear can continuously and steadily handle real, complex environments over longer time and spatial scales. Protection, durability, freedom of movement and long-wear comfort all need to be repeatedly verified in real environments. These considerations have been systematically integrated into Jack Wolfskin's newly launched "Trail" hiking shell series. The series incorporates multiple detail designs for long-distance hiking, seeking the best balance among wind and rain protection, durability and long-wear comfort.
Jason Isenberg, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Jack Wolfskin, said: "'Made for Further' is not only Jack Wolfskin's expression of the hiking spirit, but also represents the direction of the brand's future development. We will take thru-hiking as our professional starting point, apply our long-accumulated hiking experience to products, stores and brand experiences, and enable more people to go further in a way that suits them."
Engineered in Germany, technology for all
Engineered in Germany represents the brand's rigorous, understated and pragmatic character—an engineering mindset that starts from real needs and applies technology sensibly.
Starting from the real needs of professional outdoor athletes and mass outdoor enthusiasts, Jack Wolfskin relies on its widely market-recognized Texapore series materials and classic categories such as three-in-one jackets to develop outdoor gear that achieves an appropriate balance of advanced, reliable, durable and comfortable performance for different use scenarios. This forms the basis of Jack Wolfskin's "technology for all": matching technologies and experience verified in professional outdoor scenarios to more scenarios according to consumers' activity types, usage intensity and actual environments.
In Jack Wolfskin's view, professionalism should not be limited to a few people or a few high-intensity scenarios; rather, users of different experience levels and at different stages should all be able to obtain gear support that matches their actual needs. Technology is not about quantity but precision; the key is its sensible application: long-distance thru-hiking emphasizes professional protection and durability, short- and medium-distance hiking focuses on lightness and comfort, and daily commuting and switching between urban and outdoor scenarios require both convenience and design. Starting from real scenarios, Jack Wolfskin does not pile on performance features; it lets each technology serve its purpose and provides users with gear that is "just right."
Global synergy, local adaptation
As the brand revival plan advances in depth, Jack Wolfskin is accelerating its coordinated global market layout. Globally, Jack Wolfskin maintains consistency in brand positioning, design philosophy and core customer perception, with thru-hiking and the Engineered in Germany ethos as its shared professional foundation and "Made for Further" as a unified brand expression; at the same time, it adapts to local conditions in terms of product assortment, fit, channels and retail experience according to each market's outdoor culture, consumer needs and retail environment.
In Germany, the brand's home country, Jack Wolfskin is continuing to update stores and retail experiences in German-speaking regions and gradually extending to other European markets. China, meanwhile, faces fast-growing and increasingly segmented outdoor demand: as consumers gain experience, gear choices are shifting from broad functional pursuits to scenario fit.
To respond more precisely to Asian consumer needs, Jack Wolfskin China has brought in senior outdoor creative design lead Yura Im to drive localized innovation in design, fit, materials and product assortment around Asian consumers' body characteristics, use scenarios and consumption habits.
From the successive openings of new-concept stores to "Made for Further" running through products, retail and global markets, Jack Wolfskin is carrying more than four decades of focus on hiking into its next leg: validating professionalism through real scenarios, upholding reliability through the Engineered in Germany ethos, and bringing technology back to where it is truly needed.
About Jack Wolfskin
In 1981, beside a blazing campfire and amid the spark of human curiosity, Jack Wolfskin was born in Germany. Rooted in its hiking brand DNA, it has always taken "Engineered in Germany" as its product development philosophy, empowering thru-hiking and every hiker with sustainably innovative professional gear. Jack Wolfskin has always believed that the wild belongs to everyone. We will continue to inspire hikers to follow their curiosity and discover, so that everyone can fully enjoy the real wilderness.
In June 2025, Anta Group completed its acquisition of Jack Wolfskin, aiming to further enhance its competitiveness in the professional outdoor sports sector.
｜Source: Official press release
｜Image source: Brand official social media
｜Editor: LuxeCO
