Inside Foot Locker’s plan to revitalize its retail footprint | Wilnesh News

a new and improved Foot cabinet The shoe debuted Wednesday at a New Jersey mall as the sneaker retailer hopes to reverse declining sales, retain the loyalty of brand partners and regain the confidence of Wall Street by revamping the layout of its key stores.

The new concept of Foot Locker is The “store of the future” completely changes the retailer’s outdated mall model through a streamlined layout that is more immersive than the typical model, which is often two shoe walls with the middle section used for trying on sneakers. . The new format also includes a “drop zone” to showcase new sneaker releases, a public try-on area, elevated brand product displays and a “sneaker center” for customization options such as specialized lacing.

Frank Bracken, chief commercial officer of Foot Locker, said in an interview with CNBC that even the iconic black and white striped uniforms worn by Foot Locker store employees-Striper uniforms are getting a new look.

“They’re going to become familiar and instantly recognizable; I would say they’re going to be modernized in a really tasteful and elegant way,” Bracken said. “We’re thoughtfully designing between men’s and women’s tops and bottoms. details so that their fit and choice in matching their uniforms can be truly personalized to their body and style preferences.”

The new store, located at Willowbrook Mall about 20 miles west of Manhattan in Wayne, is the first of five planned to open this year. This is an important part of the “Lace Up” strategy announced by the retailer’s CEO Mary Dillon at its investor day in March 2023. 34th Street flagship store opening in Paris.

With about 80% of the retailer’s revenue coming from its more than 2,500 brick-and-mortar stores, Dillon has been focused on revitalizing Foot Locker’s store footprint since taking over in September 2022. Poor stores and refreshing existing locations.

Dillon and her team believe the new store design will attract customers who shop outside the mall, giving sneakerheads a reason to come to the store instead of visiting the brand’s website or store directly.

In fiscal 2023, Foot Locker spent $242 million renovating and building new stores and other capital expenditures. The company plans to invest an additional $200 million in real estate projects this year, according to its securities filings.

Bracken said that in addition to the five “stores of the future” Foot Locker plans to open this year, the retailer is also using the concept to redesign 900 stores in 2024 and 2025, with plans to redesign about 100 stores each season.

“All the standards around storefronts, fixtures, storytelling, merchandising standards that we’re going to deploy rapidly across 900 stores, there’s a real symbiotic relationship between these updates and the ‘store of the future,’ so they look like they will Very complementary,” he said.

Foot Locker’s change in real estate strategy comes as the retailer faces continued sales declines, with its shares down about 29% year to date as of Tuesday’s close, while the S&P 500 has gained more than 6%.

Foot Locker has struggled to grow sales, in part because it now competes with its own brand partners, which have built their own websites and stores over the past few years and reduced their reliance on wholesalers.

Keep the brand as Nike and Adidas Happiness is not only critical to Foot Locker’s revenue, but also to the company’s survival. That’s why enhanced brand storytelling and enhanced product presentation – two core requirements for Foot Locker partners – became integral to the retailer’s new store concept.

“When we think about this, it’s not just Foot Locker in isolation thinking about what’s important or what we want,” Bracken said. “(We) work closely with our brand partners to take digital storytelling and product marketing and storytelling to another level.”

Fortunately for Foot Locker, its store redesign plan comes at a time when sneaker brands like Nike are rethinking their sales strategies and realizing that wholesalers, especially those with large footprints, are critical to their growth. important. Nike CEO John Donahoe acknowledged earlier this month that the company was too far away from its wholesale partners in seeking to drive direct sales, and has since “corrected that by reinvesting in retail partners.” One question”.

Bracken said this “turn in the tide” has not gone unnoticed.

“We have support from our brand partners in a way that’s refreshing, but maybe not as clear and transparent as it has been in years past,” he said. “We think we’re in a very good position as an important strategic retail partner in the future, and it’s upon us now. (2024) is definitely a turning point.”