Foot Locker’s ‘Lace Up’ plan continues to gain ground

Not yet a “sneakerhead?” It could just be a matter of time.

Mary Dillon, president and CEO of Foot Locker Inc., told the crowd at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show that part of the company’s mission is to unleash the inner sneakerhead in us all. Now roughly two years into Foot Locker's Lace Up plan — which aims to expand sneaker culture, power up the portfolio, deepen its relationship with customers and be best-in-class omni — the company is “at or ahead of all of our goals,” she said during a conversation with Bobby Stephens, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP.

The industry category has been tough from a macro perspective, but what’s happening on the Lace Up plan is “very exciting and setting us up well for the future.”

Stephens sported a pair of adidas Samba XLGs that he bought through the Foot Locker mobile app; Dillon wore the gold metallic Nike Zoom Vomero 5. Foot Locker has recently expanded its women’s section, she said, and it’s been the company’s fastest area of growth. “For women, once you start to realize you can wear sneakers for almost anything, you hardly every go back to heels,” she said with a laugh. “And also, you can buy a lot of sneakers because you have a lot of outfits.”

President and CEO of Foot Locker Inc. Mary Dillon speaks at NRF 2025.

Foot Locker’s refresh has involved strategic partnerships with the Chicago Bulls and the NBA. The comprehensive multiyear collaboration with the NBA, announced in November 2023, has expanded and extended a longstanding partnership, incorporating events, experiences and connections through Foot Locker’s FLX loyalty program. As for the Bulls, that multi-year partnership was announced in October 2024, with community events, in-store activations and more.

Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Dillon said, Foot Locker has a great legacy with basketball. At the same time, there’s a focus on attracting new people to the sneaker category. The company has relaunched its enhanced FLX Rewards loyalty program, its redesigned mobile app and its Reimagined store concept to enhance the sneaker shopping experience. The most recent Reimagined store opened in Utrecht, Netherlands, in December 2024.

There are now eight of these reimagined stores, including one in New York City’s Herald Square. The store design is “customer-insight-led, brand-partner-led and Striper-led,” she said. “Stripers” are store associates, considered sneaker culture experts; their black and white striped jerseys are similar to what referees would wear.

The stores feature a “drop zone” for new product releases, a multi-branded basketball section with experiential aspects, a try-on area aimed at fostering community and encouraging consumers to hype each other up, and an area for customization. Not all stores will be the same size, she said, but they will share the same principles. “By the end of 2025, we’ll have about two-thirds of our fleet globally refreshed,” she said.

The company’s banners include Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and Atmos. Even though its mall stores are “doing great,” she said, Foot Locker is evolving to do more “off-mall” and community stores. “That’s an important part of it as well,” Dillon said. “It’s just having your stores in the right places.”