Men’s luxury shoe brand Marc Nolan hosted the grand opening of its temporary Atlanta storefront at Ponce City Market Thursday, Dec. 7, bringing together dozens of shoppers and supporters to mix, mingle and browse the available merchandise.

The Chicago-based business is slated to operate its new brick-and-mortar store as a pop-up shop for the next six months, occupying a space nestled between Nike and Scotch & Soda on the mall’s ground floor.

The Atlanta shop serves as Marc Nolan’s first physical store branching outside of the company’s Midwestern headquarters. The brand’s primary location is situated inside Chicago’s Fulton Market District.

“We are very excited to open a new retail location in Atlanta, our first outside our hometown of Chicago,” said founder and CEO Sebastian Malczewski, about the expansion. “Atlanta has proven to be a very important market for the brand, the opportunity to expand our in-store presence here was one we just couldn’t pass up.”

Malczewski said that Atlanta proved to be a competitive market for the company, which 

inspired him to open the pop-up as the first step in Marc Nolan’s evolution from a predominately e-commerce venture into one that engages personally and directly with its consumers.

“This community has a beautiful soul, so people are just nice,” Malczewski said. “Besides (Atlanta) being a number-one or number-two market for us, I feel comfortable here.”

Archie Clay III, founder of Atlanta-based apparel brand Brain Love and once a collaborator with Marc Nolan, introduced Malczewski to the city and Ponce City Market two years ago. Malczewski said he hopes business collaborations will continue with the debut of the Atlanta store, mentioning plans to specifically spotlight local artists, as the brand has done previously in other popular markets.

Marc Nolan was launched in 2018, carrying a selection of men’s boots, loafers,…