Dive Brief:
- Foot Locker’s efforts to refresh its store footprint are continuing with the reopening of its 34th Street flagship in New York City on Thursday. In a company press release, the athletics retailer called the store opening “a pivotal milestone” in its store fleet revamp.
- The New York location now features a Foot Locker “Home Court” basketball concept developed with Nike and the Jordan brand. The concept, which also features Puma, New Balance and Adidas, is the result of a “shared vision” between Nike and Foot Locker.
- The area has 3D scanning technology to help customers find the right fit, a vertical jump challenge for customers to test shoe performance and a street-inspired look with “enhanced storytelling,” per the release.
Dive Insight:
Foot Locker’s store renovation strategy has advanced a step further with the reopening of a key location on New York City’s popular 34th Street. Notably, the store emphasizes basketball — a space Foot Locker is leaning more deeply into — through a collaboration with Nike and Jordan.
"Foot Locker 'Home Court' represents a pivotal advancement in how we connect with sneaker enthusiasts and elevate the basketball experience, in collaboration with our brand partners," CEO Mary Dillon said in a statement. "Our reimagined 34th Street store aims to set the standard for excellence in omnichannel retail, in line with our Lace Up Plan and deeply rooted in sneaker culture."
While the company unveiled its first store of the future format in Wayne, New Jersey, in April, the New York location features its first new Kids Foot Locker concept. The kids section of the store features interactive digital shoe scanning, an activity table, selfie stations and “elevated” basketball merchandising.
In addition to opening refreshed stores in New Jersey, New York and Paris, Foot Locker is planning locations in Melbourne, Australia, and Delhi, India. The footprint revamp is aimed at creating a more cohesive store experience, Chief Commercial Officer Frank Bracken told Retail Dive earlier this year, as well as solving issues with previous store designs, which were more male-dominant and featured less storytelling.
Dillon told analysts in March this year that the company plans to revamp two-thirds of its global Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker stores over the next few years, just one piece of a larger store strategy that includes shuttering 400 mall-based locations by 2026. The retailer in May said new store formats now make up 16% of its total square footage, an increase from 11% last year.
After a tumultuous period where Nike indicated it would shift away from Foot Locker in favor of its own DTC strategy, the two have deepened ties once more, including through the new basketball focus at Foot Locker’s New York flagship. Foot Locker also rolled out a new loyalty program this summer in the hopes of connecting with more shoppers. The program allows shoppers to redeem points for discounts, receive free returns on purchases and use loyalty points to earn a higher chance of accessing new sneaker drops.
