Merino mission

In the past two to three years Icebreaker has expanded its range beyond outdoor wear into lifestyle products. Photo / Supplied

Merino clothing manufacturer Icebreaker hopes to open 50 retail stores around the world within the next three to four years.

The darling of the fine wool garment sector has just opened a flagship store on Newmarket's Broadway, its first local high street operation.

Until now its only other New Zealand retail stores have been at Wellington Airport and several factory outlets.

Overseas, it has stores in Montreal and Portland, plus joint-venture retail operations in the UK and France.

In the past two to three years the company had expanded its range beyond outdoor wear into lifestyle products and felt it was important to showcase everything in a company-owned store, general manager Tony Balfour said.

"Very few of our retailers take the whole range."

However, its retail expansion would be strategic and methodical, he said.

It was not just about selling to locals but having an impact on its wider market, so it needed to be in destination shopping locations such as Newmarket.

The company would love to open in New York and is currently searching for a suitable site in SoHo.

But it had learned from experience to wait until the perfect location came up. "You can be 100m in the wrong direction," Balfour said.

Icebreaker also aimed to open stores in Melbourne, where it had a strong following, San Francisco, Vancouver and several European cities.

The brand had "earned the right to step out of the outdoors," Balfour said.

"If you don't have a firm foundation it's really hard just to launch another fashion brand."