In another loss for New York, Foot Locker, Inc. is reporting a significant shake-up in its real estate and office model as the company gave notice in its second-quarter earnings release that it is pulling up stakes in New York City and moving to St. Petersburg, FL, in 2025.

Foot Locker’s move to relocate its corporate office to Florida is expected to consolidate its major retail operations after working with the Champs team in Florida and all other management and merchant teams in New York.

Champs remains based in the Bradenton/St. Petersburg, FL area since former Foot Locker parent Kinney Shoe Corp. acquired the 48-store Robby Sports chain in 1988 and renamed it Champs Sports.

“To further support strategic progress against the Lace Up Plan, Foot Locker, Inc. is also announcing that it will move its global headquarters to St. Petersburg, FL in late 2025,” the company wrote in a media release. 

“I want to address our intention to relocate our corporate headquarters to St. Petersburg, Florida, where we already have a meaningful executive and commercial presence in late 2025,” said Foot Locker Inc. Mary Dillon on a conference call with analysts.  “We’ll be expanding our footprint in St. Petersburg as we transition from New York City and plan to maintain only a limited presence in New York City going forward.”

Dillon continued, “At Foot Locker, we are at our best when we support enterprise-level thinking and collaboration amongst our team members while also looking for ways to operate with financial discipline. Through these actions, we are ensuring ongoing strategic support of our Lace Up Plan and operational efficiency as we focus on driving long-term sustainable growth and shareholder value creation.”

In September, Foot Locker will open its new Global Technology Services (GTS) Hub in Dallas, TX. Led by Chief Technology Officer Adrian Butler, the center is expected to “accelerate technology delivery and cross-functional collaboration with access to the best-in-class technology talent pool.” Technology services have been based in Pennsylvania.

International Operations Updates
As part of Foot Locker’s Lace Up Plan and the company’s ongoing efforts to simplify its business model, focusing on core banners and regions, Foot Locker is taking the following actions in the Asia Pacific and Europe:

  • Closing its stores and e-commerce operations in South Korea;
  • Closing its stores and e-commerce operations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden; and
  • Signed agreements with Fourlis Holdings Société Anonyme (Fourlis Group), a retail group and licensing operator in Southeast Europe, to transfer store and e-commerce operations in Greece and store operations in Romania.

Foot Locker Inc. CEO Mary Dillon walked Wall Street analysts through the store plan portion of the company’s Lace Up Plan during a conference call following the company’s Q2 earnings release, suggesting that an overarching principle of the Plan is to simplify and optimize the business to ensure that Foot Locker can invest in and focus its energy on its core banners and markets to drive sustainable growth.

“As part of the Lace Up Plan over the past few years, we’ve made meaningful strides in streamlining areas of our regional and banner portfolio that we’re adding complexity to our business while also diluting our overall levels of profitability,” she began. “In North America, we wound down banners such as Lady Foot Locker, Footaction, Eastbay, and Atmos’ limited U.S. presence. In Europe, we closed our Runners Point and Sidestep banners. And, in Asia, we converted our operations in Singapore and Malaysia to a licensed model,” she noted.

“As we execute our Lace Up Plan, we’ve identified additional opportunities for streamlining our operations, leading to this morning’s announcement regarding our international business,” Dillon said.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Foot Locker will begin to wind down its stores and e-commerce operations in South Korea. In Europe, the company will close its stores and e-commerce businesses in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. She said the company signed agreements to transfer its operations in Greece and Romania to Fourlis Group, a leading retail group and licensing partner in Southeast Europe.

“All of these changes are expected to be completed by mid-2025,” the CEO committed.

She also said the agreements with Fourlis Group include future stores and e-commerce expansion in Southeast Europe. “Including expansion in Greece and Romania, the ambition is to open over 100 stores in the region over time,” she added.

“In combination with our plans to enter India later this year with our licensed partners Metro Brands and Nykaa Fashion, the health and contribution of our global licensing portfolio is building as we profitably expand the global reach of our Foot Locker brand in higher growth markets with reduced levels of investment and risk,” Dillon said.

Foot Locker said these actions would result in the closure or transfer of operations for approximately 30 of the company’s 140 stores in the Asia Pacific and 629 stores in Europe. The company expects to complete the changes by mid-2025.

The company has also entered into agreements with the Fourlis Group for future store and e-commerce expansion in Southeast Europe. In combination with future expansion opportunities in Greece and Romania, Foot Locker and Fourlis Group see an opportunity to open 100 stores in the region over the next several years.

Image courtesy Domus Urbana, St. Petersburg, FL 

See below for additional coverage from SGB Media on Foot Locker’s Q2 banner and brand performance and progress against the turnaround plan.

EXEC: Wall Street Reacts as Foot Locker CEO Talks Turnaround Plan and Positive Q2 Comps

EXEC: Foot Locker Gives Q2 Nod to Nike in Basketball, Adidas and New Balance in Lifestyle

Foot Locker Inc. Sees Core Foot Locker Banner Comps Grow 5.2 Percent in Q2