Foot Locker announced that Nick Grayston has been promoted to president and CEO of its Foot Locker U.S. division, succeeding Tim Finn who is retiring from the company. The Company also has named Keith Daly president and CEO of its Lady Foot Locker division, replacing Nick Grayston. Both executives will report to Rick Mina, president and CEO of Foot Locker, Inc. – U.S.A, effective February 1, 2005.
As of October 30, 2004, the Company’s 2,124-store Foot Locker U.S. division was comprised of 1,429 Foot Locker stores, 349 Footaction stores and 346 Kids Foot Locker stores. As of the same date, Lady Foot Locker operated 567 stores in the United States.
“Nick has demonstrated strong leadership skills and has been instrumental in driving profitable sales growth during his tenure at Foot Locker, Inc.,” stated Matthew D. Serra, Foot Locker, Inc.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Most recently, he has done an outstanding job in re-positioning our Lady Foot Locker division, resulting in a meaningful increase in sales and profit growth. We are confident that Nick’s leadership ability will be beneficial to our Foot Locker U.S. division.”
Mr. Grayston began his career with Foot Locker in 1998 as the Director of Planning and Allocation for Foot Locker Europe. Nick advanced through the Foot Locker, Inc. organization holding positions of Senior Vice President, General Merchandise Manager, and Senior Vice President, Planning and Allocation for Champs Sports, President of Foot Locker Canada, and most recently, as President and CEO of Lady Foot Locker.
“I am also very pleased that Keith Daly will be joining our senior management team. Keith is a seasoned executive, with extensive experience in both the retail and manufacturing sectors of the athletic industry, and a strong track record. We look forward to his contributions and expect that he will build upon the repositioning that is clearly underway at Lady Foot Locker.”
Mr. Daly will be joining Foot Locker, Inc. from And 1, the athletic footwear and apparel manufacturer, where he was Executive Vice President – Sales since January 2002. Prior to joining And 1, he served as Senior Vice President, Merchandising/Marketing for Footaction USA, a division of Footstar Corporation. Mr. Daly began his career in 1980 with Kinney Shoe Corporation, a subsidiary of Foot Locker, Inc. From 1982 through 1992, he worked in the Foot Locker U.S. division with increasing responsibilities in the merchandising area, rising to the position of Vice President, Director of Buying.
Mr. Serra continued. “On behalf of the Foot Locker organization, I would also like to express my appreciation to Tim Finn for his many contributions to our Company over his 35 year career. We wish him the very best for the future.”
