Bombas is opening its first Washington, D.C. store in Georgetown, bringing the sock brand's buy-one-give-one model to a physical storefront at 1400 Wisconsin Avenue NW for the first time in the city. The store launches on August 14, and the company says it will be Bombas' largest location to date, selling the full range of its socks, slippers, underwear, and T-shirts. The first 150 visitors will walk away with a free pair of crab-print socks.
The Georgetown opening was first reported by Axios, which noted that Bombas has operated for a decade as a purely direct-to-consumer and wholesale business before this recent push into owned retail. The brand, founded out of a Shark Tank pitch, is often described as the most successful company to emerge from the show. Since its 2014 television appearance, Bombas has generated more than $1.3 billion in lifetime sales, according to TapTwice Digital, with an estimated $325 million in annual revenue for 2024.
Georgetown marks the fifth city in Bombas' brick-and-mortar rollout, which began with a Bleecker Street shop in New York City before expanding to Boca Raton, Houston, and Philadelphia, per the same account. Hoodline previously reported that Bombas signed a lease along Rittenhouse Row's retail wave as part of that same expansion.
Why Bombas Is Betting on Physical Stores
The shift toward owned retail comes even though direct online sales have historically accounted for more than 90% of Bombas' total revenue, according to the article. Internal consumer research from the company found that roughly 65% of all sock purchases in the United States still happen in physical stores rather than online, a gap the brand is now trying to close with locations like the one opening in Georgetown.
To manage the operational side of running physical stores, Bombas partnered with retail-as-a-service platform Leap and e-commerce provider Shopify, which handle store design, staffing, and daily operations, according to Retail TouchPoints. That arrangement lets the digitally native brand expand its footprint without taking on the full real estate and staffing risk of traditional retailers. Bombas has also placed its footwear line in nearly 500 DSW locations and stocked select items in Target stores, part of a broader wholesale push that has previously included Nordstrom, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Scheels, per a report from Unity Marketing.
Leadership has also changed hands during this transition. Former company president Jason LaRose became Bombas' Chief Executive Officer in May 2025, succeeding co-founder David Heath to guide the retail expansion, according to Carol Cone On Purpose. Heath remains closely involved with the company as a strategic partner.
The Buy-One-Give-One Mission Behind the Socks
Every Bombas sale contributes to the company's mission of donating clothing to people experiencing homelessness, per Axios. By May 2026, that one-purchased, one-donated program had facilitated more than 200 million essential clothing item donations through a network of over 4,000 partner organizations across all 50 states, according to Carol Cone On Purpose.
The socks made for donation differ from the colorful pairs sold in stores. Bombas engineers its shelter-bound socks with darker fabric to conceal wear, reinforced seams for durability, and an antimicrobial treatment to resist odor and fungal growth between washes, according to Fast Company. Socks remain the single most requested clothing item at homeless shelters, the outlet notes, a detail that underscores why the donation program has centered on footwear since the brand's founding.
Why Georgetown, and Why Now
Georgetown's stretch of upper Wisconsin Avenue NW has seen a notable shift in 2026, with new dining and retail openings pulling foot traffic north, away from the traditional M Street intersection, according to local real estate commentator Carol Kennedy. The neighborhood has become something of a regional landing pad for digitally native apparel brands opening physical stores, having already drawn Warby Parker, Glossier, Allbirds, Vuori, Everlane, and Naadam, per Retail Dive.
For online-first brands like Bombas, opening in dense, high-foot-traffic corridors such as Georgetown offers a way to lower the rising cost of acquiring customers digitally. With its Wisconsin Avenue doors opening this week, Bombas is betting that Washingtonians will do what shoppers across the country still do most often when it comes to socks: walk into a store and buy a pair.
