Arc’teryx has opened a store in Venice unlike any other in its lineup — one built entirely around climbing, down to a wall you can actually scale indoors. The new shop opened Saturday on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, marking the outdoor apparel brand’s first retail concept dedicated exclusively to the sport.
The store sits at 1116 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, according to Inside Retail, and represents Arc’teryx’s fourth location in Los Angeles and fifth across Southern California, as reported by Chain Store Age. Rather than stocking the brand’s full outdoor catalog, the Abbot Kinney shop narrows its focus to a selection of Arc’teryx climbing apparel and equipment paired with a curated assortment of third-party climbing gear, per the same report. As SGB Media notes, the store is meant to give local climbers a place to gather, train, learn and connect.
A Climbing Wall Built Into the Retail Floor
The centerpiece is a built-in Grasshopper climbing wall, with routes and holds updated regularly by local partner Long Beach Rising, the station's report states. Long Beach Rising developed the wall and will continue to manage those changes while also taking part in programming at the store, according to Inside Retail. The organization is expected to play an ongoing role in the store experience going forward, per SGB Media.
Arc’teryx is also working with local climbing organization ABA on community initiatives tied to the store, Inside Retail reports. Together, ABA and Long Beach Rising will help shape the store’s climb-focused selection of third-party products, according to SGB Media.
A Lounge, a Patio and Room for Films
Beyond the wall, the store includes a Beta Lounge furnished by local design studio Waka Waka, stocked with climbing guidebooks and current issues of Alpinist and Summit Journal, per Chain Store Age. The space also features large-scale athlete imagery alongside photographs, artifacts, books and written narratives documenting historic ascents, as reported by VMSD. SGB Media adds that the store includes Arc Presents, a rotating projection series for climbing films and other content.
Flexible fixtures throughout the store allow the retail floor to transform for films, workshops, talks and other events, Chain Store Age notes, and the lounge and outdoor patio are configurable for workshops, small gatherings and screenings, according to SGB Media.
Why Arc’teryx Built a Climbing-Only Shop
Arc’teryx GM for North America Delaney Schweitzer said climbing is part of the brand’s DNA and that community has always been core to how it thinks about retail, according to Inside Retail. Stephanie Jamieson, senior director of brand community for North America, said the store is intended to be a place where Los Angeles climbers can learn, connect and get involved, per SGB Media. The Abbot Kinney concept was created out of Arc’teryx’s shared connection to climbing with the Los Angeles community, the outlet reports.
The opening lands amid a mixed moment for the climbing industry. Outdoor recreation participation reached an all-time high entering 2026, with a record 183.2 million Americans getting outside in 2025, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Yet North American climbing-gym operators, developers and suppliers faced challenging economic conditions in 2025, according to Climbing Business Journal, even as the indoor climbing industry grew 4.7% with 53 new gyms opening, per Athletech News.
Reports differ on exactly how large Arc’teryx’s global retail footprint has grown. VMSD reports the brand operates more than 160 branded stores alongside more than 2,400 other retail locations worldwide, while Chain Store Age puts the branded-store count above 260 within that same 2,400-plus retail network. Either way, the Abbot Kinney location stands apart as the only one built entirely around climbing, with routes on its walls set by a Long Beach-based community partner rather than a corporate design team.
