New Balance

New Balance was founded in Boston in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company, which produced flexible arch supports for people who spent long hours on their feet. The shoe manufacturing that grew from that foundation has been based in the United States and the United Kingdom for more than a century, which is an unusual characteristic in the athletic footwear industry. The Georgetown store at 3139 M Street NW carries the full New Balance range: running shoes, training shoes, and the lifestyle and retro silhouettes that drove the brand’s significant cultural re-emergence starting in the late 2010s.

The 990 series is the shoe most associated with the brand’s contemporary cultural presence. The 990v5 and 990v6 in particular became central to the sneaker cultural conversation around 2019-2022, when the dad shoe aesthetic moved from the periphery of fashion culture to the mainstream in a way that benefited New Balance’s heritage designs more than almost any other brand. The gray suede and mesh construction, the chunky midsole, and the understated logo placement produced a shoe that the fashion-adjacent consumer adopted as a counter-signal to the performance-maximizing aesthetic of Nike and Adidas.

The running shoes cover the full spectrum from entry-level training to the more technically advanced Fresh Foam X models that serious runners use for long runs. The 1080, 860, and 880 are the primary performance running shoes in the range, each addressing a different runner profile from neutral to stability, at price points that reflect the technical investment in the midsole and upper construction. The Georgetown store serves both the Georgetown University student and the surrounding residential population’s runners, who have the C and O Canal towpath and Rock Creek Park as primary running surfaces.

The collaboration category that New Balance has developed over the past decade, which has included design partnerships with Aimé Leon Dore, Casablanca, and Joe Freshgoods, produced some of the most sought-after sneaker releases of the period. The Georgetown store carries the core range rather than all collaboration releases, which are typically sold through the New Balance website or a limited set of retail partners.

Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday, with Friday and Saturday extending to 9pm. Online ordering at newbalance.com provides the full range including the collaboration releases and the Made in USA models that are available exclusively through New Balance’s direct channels. The Made in USA line, which New Balance produces in factories in Maine and Massachusetts, is available through the brand’s online channels and select retail addresses. The 990 series and the 993 are among the models in the domestic manufacturing program. For Georgetown customers who prioritize domestic production in their purchasing decisions, the Made in USA label on specific New Balance models is a claim the brand can substantiate. The Georgetown M Street store at 3139 stocks the core performance and lifestyle range. Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday.