Inside Foot Locker’s ‘Store of the Future’ Model Guiding the Chain’s New Retail Identity

Foot Locker is leveling up its store reinvention process with a new model for future locations.

The sneaker chain on Wednesday revealed its new “store of the future” retail concept that will serve as a blueprint for future store renovations and expansions. The format came to life on Wednesday with the reopening of Foot Locker’s Willowbrook Mall location in Wayne, N.J., where the new concept will be tested before it is rolled out to more locations.

In addition to a revamped storefront and interior design, the new store experience features a reimagined layout that emphasizes brand storytelling and features a communal shoe try-on area, digital enhancements for the shopping experience and a “sneaker hub” area to assist in personalization and the order process.

“There’s so much passion for sneaker culture, whether it’s runners, basketball players or fashion forward folks who like to style sneakers with their outfits,” said Foot Locker’s chief commercial officer Frank Bracken in an interview with FN. “We just want people to know that we built this space and this entire experience to make them happy and experience sneakers in its best form.”

The new concept is part of Foot Locker’s broader plan to refresh its entire existing and future store fleet in line with its strategic Lace-Up plan, revealed in March 2023. This has included a decision to close more than 400 stores (including about 125 underperforming Champs locations) while growing its WSS brand to over 300 store locations.

In addition to relaunching the Foot Locker brand with new store formats, Foot Locker’s Lace-Up plan also involves maximizing its loyalty program, investing in technology to enhance the customer journey and diversifying its brand portfolio. Foot Locker last month said it now expects to achieve these results — which will culminate in growing business to more than $9.5 billion in annual revenue — in 2028 as opposed to its prior target of 2026.

“The store the future and the store refreshes are an important part of our Lace-Up plan,” Bracken said. “This is really in support of powering up our portfolio.”

In Q4, Foot Locker remodeled or relocated 66 stores and opened 29 new stores which included the basic elements present in the store of the future concept. But the Willowbrook Mall location represents the first “pure” store of the future, outfitted with all the design elements and new layout structure that defines this new brand expression.

The store is organized by men’s, women’s and kid’s sections and from there, further divided into brands. When it comes to presentation, secondary and tertiary display points tell various brand stories without needing to only rely on the shoe wall. What’s more, the front of the store features a “drop zone” that showcases new stories and products that are trending.

“There’s layers of merchandising that this new concept permits us to do, which is great,” Bracken said.

Foot Locker relied on the feedback and perspective of some of its key vendors to design the store. And the chain will host them again at the Willowbrook location in May for a store walk-though.

“They’re a key constituent here that we want to hear from,” Bracken said about the chain’s vendor partners.

Looking ahead

In measuring the success of the new store concept, Foot Locker will monitor metrics related to traffic, conversion, basket type, new customer acquisition, customer retention and overall customer satisfaction. Foot Locker also plans to integrate its new loyalty program into the customer shopping experience once it rolls out more broadly across North America.

Looking ahead, Foot Locker plans to open five pilot stores of the future in 2024. In addition to the Willowbrook Mall location, Foot Locker’s Herald Square, New York City location will become its second store of the future location. The chain will also open a location in Paris in time for the Summer Olympics and in Melbourne, Australia in October. Finally, Foot Locker is partnering with its India operator Metro Brands to open its first Foot Locker store — and a store of the future — in Delhi.

By 2025, the plan is for every new Foot Locker store that opens to have the full store of the future expression.

“Our plan, because they open at different points of the year, is to continue to learn and tweak and make the concept a little bit better each time,” Bracken said.