Foot Locker, under the leadership of CEO Mary Dillon, has taken strategic steps to reach both deal-seeking customers and their counterparts who want innovation and the latest on-trend, premium products from numerous brands, including Nike, New Balance, Puma, and On among others. Foot Locker has pulled forward key inventory to ensure “smooth product flows” during the season and is opting to keep open some 30 planned Champs Sports closures to help liquidate inventory, which was up 10.5 percent year-over-year at Q3 end.

Foot Locker is making progress generating more customer interest in its loyalty program, which it intends to rollout to the remainder of North America in 2024 and to the Rest of the World in 2025. Loyalty customers accounted for 23 percent of Q3 revenues, up from 22 percent in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, non-Nike sales were 36 percent during the period versus 32 percent a year ago.

While pleased with the prospects for its basketball business going forward and its new marketing alliance with the National Basketball Association that was announced in mid-November, Foot Locker continues to face challenges with its lifestyle running business.

During Q3, FL’s North American sales declined by 10 percent to $1.46 billion, including a 7 percent drop at Foot Locker to $796 million where comp sales slipped by 4.9 percent. Champs Sports, which is being repositions for the active athlete, realized a 23 percent sales decline to $311 million. Elsewhere, Kids’ Foot Locker sales increased by 4 percent to $189 million and WSS sales rose slightly by 1 percent to $163 million despite a 9.4 percent dip in comp sales.