The shift from pure direct to consumer to true omnichannel is no longer a branding experiment it is the viability test for DTC business models in 2026. What began as a margin and data play online has run into structural limits: rising acquisition costs, crowded performance media, and the inability of digital only distribution to deliver sustained brand visibility and profitable scale.
The strongest DTC players have reframed physical retail not as a pivot away from digital, but as a data led extension of their ecosystem, using stores as acquisition engines, loyalty hubs, and high margin fulfillment nodes. Their “clicks to bricks” strategies are grounded in customer heat maps, omnichannel LTV metrics, and test and learn rollouts, turning real estate into a performance channel rather than a fixed cost line.
This report spotlights the 10 DTC brands that have executed that transition most effectively in 2026, focusing on the scale of their physical expansion, the mix of owned stores versus wholesale and shop in shop, and the operational playbooks behind their success. Collectively, these brands demonstrate that the next phase of DTC growth is won at the intersection of channel diversification, data driven site selection, and tight integration between e commerce, retail operations, and brand storytelling.
The Top 10 DTC to Retail Success Stories (2026)
The brands leading the charge in 2026 have adopted diverse strategies, ranging from aggressive owned store expansion to leveraging massive wholesale partnerships. The table below summarizes the top 10 brands, illustrating the scale of their physical footprint and their strategic focus for the year.
| Rank | Brand | Category | 2025 U.S. Store Count(Owned)/Wholesale (Estimate) | 2026 Retail Strategy | Key Success Factor |
| 1 | Warby Parker | Eyewear | 300+/0 wholesale | Controlled owned expansion + Target shop in shops | Data driven physical footprint and hybrid model |
| 2 | Vuori | Athleisure | 100+/500+ | Aggressive global owned store expansion | Premium brand positioning and community centric experience |
| 3 | Hims & Hers | Health & Wellness | 0/10,000+ | Deepening mass wholesale distribution (10,000+ doors) | Disruptive model scaling through existing retail infrastructure |
| 4 | Liquid Death | Beverage | 0/100,000+ massive | Massive wholesale distribution in grocery and big box | Unconventional marketing driving massive retail pull |
| 5 | Skims | Apparel/Shapewear | 22+/55+ | Global flagship expansion; transitioning to “mostly physical” | Massive social pull and celebrity driven demand |
| 6 | Glossier | Beauty | 15+/200+ | Owned flagships + high volume wholesale ( Sephora) | Balancing high touch flagships with mass omnichannel reach |
| 7 | On Running | Footwear/Apparel | 35+/5,000+ | Continued global flagship expansion | Performance led innovation and community movement |
| 8 | Bombas | Apparel (Socks) | 3+/1,000+ | Owned retail scaling + Target/Nordstrom/DSW wholesale | Phased retail strategy and mission driven brand loyalty |
| 9 | Gymshark | Fitness Apparel | 2+/12+ | Expanding permanent US flagships (NYC Bond Street) Gymshark launched in 12 of Dick’s House of Sport stores in the U.S. | Community centric experiential retail and brand hub creation |
| 10 | Owala | Hydration | 0/6,000+ | Dominant shelf space in Costco, Walmart and Target, Amazon, and DICK’S Sporting Goods | Leveraging viral social success into mass market dominance |
Source: RB analysis of public data on store count and retail expansions
Brands Brief Breakdown
1. Warby Parker
Launched online in 2010, Warby Parker has grown into an omnichannel eyewear player with 223 U.S. stores as of November 2025, plus locations in Canada. A July 2025 milestone saw the opening of its 300th store overall in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, as the brand targets a fleet expansion and improved unit economics.
2. Vuori
Vuori began as a DTC activewear label centered on coastal California lifestyle and now operates a fast growing fleet of experiential stores in the U.S. as well as wholesale placements with retailers such as Nordstrom and specialty fitness partners. With physical retail helping drive brand discovery beyond digital ads, Vuori is increasingly positioned as a direct challenger to legacy athleisure names on the sales floor.
3. Hims & Hers
Hims & Hers started as a telehealth first DTC platform and now sells select over the counter products at large U.S. retailers including Walmart, Target and Walgreens, bringing once online only hair and skin SKUs into the beauty and personal care aisle. This hybrid model lets the brand acquire customers online for prescriptions and cross sell retail friendly products in store, a powerful flywheel in 2025 to 2026.
4. Liquid Death
After launching online with a viral DTC water in a can concept, Liquid Death has built distribution across major retailers, including Whole Foods, 7‑Eleven, and large U.S. grocery chains, turning shelf visibility into a core growth driver. The brand’s ability to trade up a commodity category (still water) into a lifestyle product has made its in store presence as powerful as its social media persona.
5. Skims
Founded in 2019, Skims moved from DTC shape and lounge wear to a full retail strategy via wholesale partners like Nordstrom, which became its first major in store partner in 2020. By late 2025, industry reports noted growth from 1 to 17 permanent stores since mid 2024, including an 8,000 square foot location at Mall of America, underscoring a rapid move into statement brick and mortar.
6. Glossier
After cutting back its first retail experiments during the pandemic, Glossier returned to stores with a revamped strategy, opening branded locations in cities like New York, Los Angeles and London, while also entering Sephora as a key wholesale partner in 2023 to 2024. This shift from “DTC only” to a blended model has put Glossier back in front of foot traffic while still leaning on its community driven online roots.
7. On Running
Swiss born On started as a performance running DTC disruptor and now sells through its own flagship and concept stores as well as wholesale partners like Foot Locker and specialty run shops worldwide. As of mid 2025, the brand was opening additional mono brand stores in key global cities and expanding wholesale doors, turning its once niche cushioning tech into a premium mall and high street fixture.
8. Bombas
Known for its “buy one, give one” socks, Bombas built a sizable DTC business before expanding into third party retail; by October 2025, new store roundups highlighted Bombas among notable brands opening in U.S. malls alongside labels like Skims. This brick and mortar push takes the brand from podcast ads to sock walls in high traffic centers, underlining its transition from niche online favorite to everyday basics staple.
9. Gymshark
Gymshark emerged as a pure DTC fitness wear powerhouse and has since leaned into physical and experiential retail, including flagship spaces and pop ups in key fitness cities in the UK and U.S.. These stores function as community hubs with events and workouts, turning the brand’s digital following into in person loyalty and incremental sales.
10. Owala
Hydration brand Owala built its name through DTC and social virality around its leak proof, color blocked water bottles, before scaling into big box and specialty retail chains in the U.S.. Placement in national retailers has made Owala a visible competitor to legacy hydration brands, turning an online cult favorite into an impulse purchase on physical shelves.
Key Insights: Two Strategic Models Emerge
The 2026 DTC to retail playbook centers on two dominant, often overlapping models: owned experiential retail and mass wholesale distribution, with winning brands treating both as levers in a single omnichannel P&L rather than as siloed channels. The common thread is disciplined use of data, clear role definition for each channel, and a focus on profitable reach, not just footprint expansion.
Model 1: Owned Experiential Retail
Brands like Warby Parker, Vuori, Skims, Gymshark, and On are using owned stores as brand engines first and sales channels second. These locations function as community hubs and physical proof points, “flags in the ground” that deepen loyalty, drive higher lifetime value, and anchor local ecosystems of events, services, and content.
Warby Parker illustrates the data led version of this strategy, using years of DTC customer data to select markets and corners where stores lift omnichannel LTV and reduce acquisition costs. Its mix of company owned stores and targeted shop in shops shows how brands can layer controlled distribution onto larger retail partners without diluting positioning.
Vuori and Skims are extending this playbook globally, using flagship and key city openings in markets like Seoul and Beijing to accelerate international awareness and pricing power.
Model 2: Mass Wholesale Distribution
In categories like CPG and health & wellness, brands such as Hims & Hers, Liquid Death, and Owala are scaling by tapping big box and national chains rather than building large owned fleets. Hims & Hers’ presence across tens of thousands of retail doors turns its once online only model into an omnipresent, impulse ready proposition for consumers who still shop for health needs in store.
Liquid Death demonstrates how brand heat and cultural relevance can translate into physical shelf dominance: digital buzz and provocative marketing drive demand that retailers cannot ignore, making shelf space the primary growth constraint and opportunity.
Hybrid players like Glossier and Bombas show a third path, pairing wholesale partnerships (e.g., Sephora, Target, DSW) with a tight network of owned flagships that preserve the elevated brand experience while wholesale drives volume and reach.
DTC Future Outlook
The 2026 DTC playbook makes one point clear: the strongest DTC brands no longer treat physical retail as “offline,” but as a fully integrated extension of their digital stack. Curated, high ROI owned stores or scaled wholesale distribution, the brands winning this phase are those that map the whole customer journey, assign a precise job to each channel, and use data to ensure that every store, aisle, and shelf amplifies their core value proposition.
