Crocs Inc. wants consumers to have fun with the brand.

To that end, the company opened a new 4,000-sq.-ft. “Icon” store in New York’s Soho neighborhood at 543 Broadway that spans the length of an entire city block. The store, which features immersive storytelling, will also host shopping events to create experiential theater for Crocs fans.

The new format is in line with the brand’s larger retail strategy, and the concept is Crocs’ top-tier innovation destination. In the middle tier are the traditional mainline brand-driven stores, followed by the value-focused outlet doors.

At the heart of the focus for the Icon location is the prioritization on personalization and customization. The floor space showcases the entire core Crocs line and its shoe options. There are also two counters where fans can choose their Crocs’ Jibbitz™ charms for a bit of self-expression on their purchases, whether on the core Crocs footwear or the brand’s tote bags, backpacks and pouches, as well as new personalization product.

According to brand president Anne Mehlman, the Broadway site is a “test-and-learn” door, meaning that learnings will guide future Icon locations, in addition to how best to use the locations to create experiential moments with customers. The ideal Icon stores are in high-traffic spots that have the advantage of local footfall as well as tourist destination points.

“What we’re really trying to do is create a store that [gives] more of an immersive consumer experience that centers on personalization — and in an iconic city,” Mehlman said. “Jibbitz™ charms are kind of the way that we can really personally connect with our consumer.”

So why now?

“As the world is becoming more and more digital, and we’re interacting more and more digital, [and] we’re a digital first company, we think our consumers are also craving some in-person connection,” the Crocs’ president said. “And we also know that in order to really experience our personalization, the best place to do that is in physical retail.”

According to Mehlman, the new concept allows consumers to “physically touch and feel the product, and then have the experience of coming in the store and picking out the Jibbitz [charms] that are unique to them and putting them on their shoes.”

The store includes elements of the Soho neighborhood, such as a bodega experience to showcase Crocs’ Jibbitz charms. The charms also will include selections unique to New York and SoHo, and won’t be available anywhere else. Elevating the Jibbitz options are 14K gold charms and a Swarovski Jibbitz, which can run as high as $300, she said.

She described the store idea as “fashion meets function meets utility and streetwear, with a little bit of a higher-end line that’s going to go in the back of our store, which has a separate entrance.” That entrance is at 115 Mercer St., and the higher-end products are part of Crocs’ EXP line. EXP represents Crocs’ most daring and unconventional silhouettes that feature modern technical capabilities and reimagined archival looks.

Melman isn’t ruling out the possibility of an online customer personalizing a shoe order prior to shipment but that would be further down the road. One idea for the omni-channel brand is bringing in live-streaming capabilities into the store to bring the digital consumer closer to the physical experience. “We’re already doing that in some of our international locations, so I definitely think there are future ways to mesh the digital and physical experiences,” she said.

Looking ahead, Mehlman said the size of each Icon store will be unique to the local city and country, and some may be very small focusing on personalization. She said the SoHo site was “opportunistic,” and its square footage is slightly larger than the brand’s 30 full-line mainline stores. With one U.S. test site under its belt, the next test store will likely be overseas, Mehlman said.

Special events at the store will also take center stage when new collaborations are announced. “The Icon store gives us a great meeting [site because] the fixtures are modular. Right now we have a Barbie showcase,” the president said. “We have some exciting upcoming events that we’re going to be hosting in Soho,” she noted.

In contrast, the smaller overseas Icon stores will be built around personalization and, due to its smaller footprint, will feature a more curated Jibbitz™ collection for purchase that’s in line with the special attributes of each local city.

Separately, Mehlman said the company is remodeling its 34th Street store, and while it won’t be a total Icon concept, it will feature a more enhanced shopping experience when the door reopens in the fourth quarter. There are no plans to retrofit other locations, as most are either full-price mall stores or outlet sites.