Foot Locker to Close 400 Stores as Part of Company ‘Reset’
have unveiled plans to close 400 stores by 2026 as part of the company’s direction under new CEO Mary Dillon. The sneaker chain will focus on opening differing tiers of retail experiences to target an elevated customer base.
As reported by , FL executives announced these intentions at an investor day, fleshing out ideas underlined in their ‘Lace Up’ business strategy. Underperforming stores situated in shopping malls have been earmarked for closure, which could see up to 420 of about 1300 mall-based locations shutting up shop in the next couple of years. This will result in the FL brick-and-mortar network having 10 per cent fewer locations by 2026, even though there will be future openings.
In lieu of these mall stores, Foot Locker plan to open 300 ‘new concept’ stores, which will vary from massive ‘community’ locations, ‘power stores’ that focus on elevated experiences, and ‘house of play’ spots catered for kids’ products. By 2026, FL plan to have about 2400 locations – right now, they have roughly 2700.
According to Dillon, Foot Locker is now ‘attracting an older and higher-income shopper’. It seems the company is hinging on this observation to grow their current $1 billion annual revenue to $9.5 billion by 2026.