Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) closed on its Foot Locker acquisition on Monday, September 8 while also reporting that company Executive Chairman Ed Stack will oversee Foot Locker’s total business, along with a team of former Dick’s and Foot Locker senior managers and several external hires.
- Ann Freeman, a 26-year Nike veteran, becomes president of Foot Locker North America. Freeman was most recently serving as Nike’s VP/GM North America in 2020/21 and VP of Global Sales for almost two years prior to that role.
- DKS also indicated it plans to hire a president of Foot Locker International to lead other regions.
- Both presidents will report to Ed Stack, will lead the overall business.
SGB Media on Monday morning listed the executives who have been added to the retailer’s North America leadership team. The link to that initial outline is located at the bottom.
The move leaves several unanswered questions, including confirmation on which Foot Locker executives are exiting, and the fate of Foot Locker’s planned headquarters move to Florida.
In a note issued on Monday, Williams Trading’s Sam Poser said the initial media announcement appeared to indicate that Mary Dillon, CEO of Foot Locker, Inc., Frank Bracken, president of Foot Locker, Inc., and Bryon Milburn, SVP and GM Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker, are not part of the go-forward team leading Foot Locker.
Poser felt the hiring of Denise Karkos, who has little experience running stores, to lead Champs could signal that Dick’s may divest, or even close, the Champs chain. Poser did comment that he believes Champs “has been a distraction” to Foot Locker, Inc.
Prior to joining Dick’s in 2023, Karkos served as the CMO of Sirius XM and Pandora. Before Sirius XM, she was CMO at TD Ameritrade.
He questioned the hiring of Freeman, who reportedly resigned from Nike in 2021 after it was discovered that her son, Joe Hebert, was reselling shoes purchased with her American Express Corporate Card (in some cases). Some shoe models were bought at Nike’s employee store in Beaverton, OR, and at other Nike stores using the family discount. Hebert disclosed her connection with her son’s dealings when the business began, and Nike reportedly found no conflict of interest.
On the positive side, Poser also noted that Freeman “was a very strong leader and will likely, from a skill set perspective, serve Foot Locker well.” His team’s checks further indicated Freeman has “a strong relationship with Nike’s leadership team. Getting better Nike allocations is one thing, turning around a floundering athletic specialty retailer is another.”
Poser added, “We are not concerned about Ms. Freeman’s qualifications, but we have a few judgment concerns.”
Among other moves, Poser noted that checks indicate that Tony Aversa, the new SVP & GM for Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker North America, and George Jenkins, new SVP of Store Operations and Customer Experience, “are strong operators, but not necessarily the strongest merchants, based on our checks.”
On the marketing front, Poser questioned whether new Chief Marketing Officer Brett O’Brien, who was at PepsiCo for over 24 years, would “serve Foot Locker well.”
The initial media release reporting the personnel changes did not address Foot Locker’s move of its headquarters from New York City to St. Petersburg, Florida, initially set for late 2025.
Poser wrote, “Our checks indicate that Foot Locker’s merchant team will remain in NYC, and not move to St. Petersburg, Florida. DKS has not confirmed our check. Keeping the Foot Locker team in NYC is best, in our view, for talent acquisition, and having close contact with core streetwear and fashion sneaker consumers.”
DKS did not respond to queries from SGB Executive for further comment.
As a combined company, Dick’s will operate over 3,200 stores, as well as e-commerce and digital businesses, across 20 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, with a licensed store presence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Dick’s will continue to operate Foot Locker’s portfolio of brands, including Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS, and Atmos.
DKS officials expect synergies from the merger between at $100 million to $125 million in the first year after closing. Dick’s also expects the acquisition to be accretive to EPS in 2026.
DKS has not divulged its turnaround strategies for the struggling Foot Locker, indicating it plans to take some time to better understand the business. At a Goldman Sachs conference last week, Stack said DKS plans to focus on the next few quarters to “clean things up, get the real assessment of what’s going on,” while promising “more information” regarding plans to revive profitability and growth at Foot Locker on the company’s fourth quarter analyst call in early 2026.
However, Stack expressed confidence in the team’s ability to turn the business around. He stated, “They struggled a little bit over the last couple of years, but we see what needs to be done and basically, it’s ‘Retail 101,’ to have the right product at the right place at the right time.”
Stack added, “We think that they’ve got a great culture in their stores. The striper culture in the stores is one of the main reasons why we bought them. These young men and women work in the stores. They love Foot Locker, they love sneakers. They understand sneakers. They love to talk about sneakers. And we think there’s a big opportunity, and we’re very excited about that.”
Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) collapsed $30.56, or 14.6 percent, to $179.05 on May 15 after the retailer announced plans to acquire Foot Locker. Analysts have cited concerns such as brand identity differences, integration risks, higher exposure to Nike, and the task of turning around the struggling Foot Locker business. Shares have since rebounded, closing Monday at $223.83, up 21 cents.
In another note issued Monday, Joseph Feldman, at Telsey Advisory Group (TAG), didn’t directly address the leadership moves but reiterated his “Outperform” rating at a $255 price target. Feldman wrote in a note on his rating, “While our view on the Foot Locker deal remains mixed, we lean positive, as Dick’s should be able to unlock value from Foot Locker and the combined company should be an even more dominant sporting goods retailer. The deal adds ~$8B in sales at a cost of ~$2.4B, expanding Dick’s reach—both geographically and demographically (bringing store count to 3,200+ across 20 countries)—and enhancing operational scale. Furthermore, although the sales and earnings growth trajectory may be lower in the medium term when combined with the softer business profile of Foot Locker, performance can still be strong overall. We continue to view Dick’s as well positioned given its structural advantages: 1) strong and diversified merchandising, with access to high demand product and brands, as well as a solid portfolio of private label brands (13 percent of sales); 2) high full price selling; 3) an omnichannel business that benefits from off mall locations; and a 4) track record of operational execution. We maintain our Outperform rating and 12-month price target of $255, which is based on applying a P/E multiple of ~16x to our 2026 EPS estimate of $15.50 (unconsolidated).”
Other analysts declined to comment Monday on Dick’s leadership moves, but recent notes indicate many remain skeptical of the merger.
In a note issued September 1, TD Cowen’s John Kernan reiterated his “Hold” rating and slightly raised his price target, to $233, up from $231 previously. Kernan said Cowen’s consumer surveys and conversations with vendor management teams indicate the existing DKS business “is scaling beyond its peers across sporting goods and taking market share.” However, he remains “cautious on the company’s pending acquisition of Foot Locker given the undertaking of returning” Foot Locker to a mid-single EBIT margin business.
In an August-29 note, Robby Ohmes, at Bank of America Securities, raised his target price to $245 per share from $240 per share due to higher-than-expected DKS sales in the second quarter. He also reiterated his “Buy” rating given DKS “opportunity for improved vendor allocations and longer-term increasing profit contribution from FL post-acquisition, digital, and clearance capabilities that should support sales and gross margin upside potential.”
In an August-28 note, JP Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers hiked his price target on DKS to $235 per share from $195 per share due to momentum at the core business at DKS, but he kept his “Neutral” rating on the stock due in large part to concerns over the potential level of accretion from the Foot Locker merger.
Horvers wrote, “DKS is executing at a high level, has strongly improved its relationships with vendors, and is benefitting from the casualization and healthy living trends despite facing key hydration and footwear laps. That said, we maintain our Neutral rating as the stock is net down near the entire value of the proposed FL acquisition since the announcement, with investors skeptical of hurting the momentum in the core business. Given the uncertainty around the deal, we remain on the sidelines, though we do see upside to current guidance and remain impressed by management’s strategy and execution.”
Baird Equity Research in an August-28 note reiterated its “Neutral” rating at a $230 price target. Analyst Justin Kleber still said he’s seeking “greater confidence” in the Foot Locker value creation opportunity. He wrote, “While we are still not fans of the Foot Locker acquisition, DKS will certainly become even more important to its brand partners and should be able to improve FL’s margin profile ($100M-$125M in medium-term cost synergies; more full-price selling?). That said, FL’s multi-banner/multi-national footprint adds complexity/execution risk to a business with compelling organic growth drivers.”
Raymond James in an August 28th note reiterated its “Maintain Market” rating at an unspecified price target. Analyst Bobby Griffin wrote, “The core DKS business remains well-positioned, with consistent share gains, high-quality execution, and structural GM percent improvement underpinned by high-ROI initiatives such as House of Sport, GameChanger, and retail media. F2Q comps of +5.0 percent and an improved full-year comp outlook (+3.5 percent) reinforce the momentum across core categories, despite a choppy consumer backdrop (tariff uncertainty to consumer demand). We continue to view the Foot Locker acquisition as a longer-term opportunity to enhance vendor partnerships, broaden geographic and demographic reach, and scale owned brands and digital platforms (synergy upside).”
Poser on Monday reiterated his “Hold” rating at a $205 price target. Poser wrote, “We continue to believe that Foot Locker will benefit from DKS’ operational strengths. At the same time, we remain concerned that the running a small box athletic specialty retailer, that serves a different consumer base than Dick’s Sporting Goods does, in some totally different markets, spread DKS too thin. It’s way too early to say Vive la Difference.”
Image courtesy Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
See below for a list of the new Foot Locker Senior Leadership team:
Dick’s SG Completes Foot Locker Takeover; Names New North America Senior Team
