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
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.
