Footlocker Essay

Foot Locker is one of the world’s largest retailers in providing athletic inspired footwear, apparel, and accessories. The company’s operations extend to countries all over in North America, Europe, and the Asian-Pacific with a total store count standing at 3,396 as of the end of April 2016. Foot Locker Inc. operates under various subdivisions. These include Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Eastbay, and Footaction. Formerly known as the Woolworth Corporation, the company operated Footlocker stores in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Woolworth Corporation focused on a specialized store concept rather than the department store concept prevalent in its previous “Five and Dime” businesses. In 1997, Woolworth changed

But Footlocker also operates as a Direct to Consumer format where services and goods can be provided through the internet and mobile apps. Eastbay operates as the Direct to Mail segment of Footlocker Inc., as there is no physical store to shop but rather shopping is made solely through its online website and mobile devices. With a focus primarily on the young adult population and teenagers, Footlocker also caters to various age groups. Over the last 5 years, Footlocker has been one of the greater performing stocks in the specialty retail industry. It is also one of the largest in the industry as shown by a ________ market cap, as opposed to ______ for Finish Line and _____ for Dick’s Sporting

Footlocker competes with others who sell similar athletic footwear and apparel. Mass merchandisers, department stores, specialty stores, and traditional shoe stores are just a few of those in which Footlocker must compete with. Mass merchandisers may have advantageous marketing resources. Not only does Footlocker have to compete with its competitors, but Footlocker also must compete against its own suppliers. Not only does Footlocker carry merchandise of different athletic brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Under Armour, but these same companies that supply Footlocker also sell their own merchandise through store chains of their own. So the same Nike sneaker that you find in Footlocker you can also find at a Nike Outlet. In fact, Footlocker maybe at a competitive disadvantage against these stores because they don’t receive a supply of every style or colorway in every brand. So a consumer who is only looking for Nike in particular for example, may be better off going to the Nike store itself as they have more Nike styles. There are also a number of privately owned companies who sell the same merchandise as that of Footlocker. This is not including businesses who operate on the internet and sell the same or similar merchandise. The advantage that Footlocker has in this particular situation is that customers looking for brand variety will be better off going to Footlocker. Also the number of Footlocker or