In line with the strategy laid out in March of last year, the “Lace Up Plan,” Foot Locker is looking to invest up to $1 billion in opening and renovating stores in a new format all over the world, according to Modaes and other sources.
The first such store opened in New Jersey in April, as we then reported, and the second is now opening at La Défense, the business district just outside Paris proper. New York City, Melbourne and New Delhi are next, according to the chain’s Vice President and General Manager for EMEA, Tomas Petersson, who spoke with Modaes. The focus is on the world’s major cities.
The company ran about a hundred tests of the new concept last year in the US and Europe and found that it was making what Petersson calls a “positive impact” on productivity and sales. It will now study the new stores over the coming year and revisit its investments country by country. The new concept, says Modaes, provides for diaphanous, organic stores with space dedicated to exclusive collections, a desk for sneaker customization and a greater connection between the on- and offline channels.
According to Petersson, Foot Locker is seeking “general growth” in Europe, while its customers are demanding a wider range of brands, like New Balance, Asics and On Running, in addition to standbys like Nike and Adidas.
Foot Locker has, in fact, been slow-rolling the Lace Up Plan so as to raise sales to $9.5 billion over a period of two years – a milestone the company believes it can reach by 2028. Times have lately been rough for the company, which posted a loss of $389 million for Q4 2023. For Q1 2024 sales were down 2.8 percent year-on-year, to $1.874 billion, while net income was down 77.8 percent, to $8 million.
