Dive Brief:
- Continuing to refresh its C-suite, Foot Locker appointed Neil Bansal as its new executive vice president and first chief strategy and transformation officer on Wednesday, according to a press release.
- Bansal will manage the company’s international transformation strategy and work toward improving its customer experience, driving growth and encouraging innovation. He will report to Dick Johnson, chairman and CEO, per the press release.
- Before joining Foot Locker, Bansal was the senior vice president of strategy, insights and analytics at Constellation Brands. He previously worked at McKinsey & Company, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America.
Dive Insight:
Foot Locker has continued to add to its executive leadership over the past year. In November, the activewear retailer promoted Frank Bracken to chief operating officer, and Susie Kuhn to president of EMEA and general manager of Foot Locker Europe. In March, Foot Locker appointed Samantha Lomow to serve as its first president of global brands, where she was charged with managing the company’s brand portfolio and its operations in North America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the Asia-Pacific region.
With the announcement of Bansal’s hiring, the company touted his more than 20 years of experience in leading corporate strategy and transformation. He also has experience with data, analytics and digital.
“Neil has an exceptional track record of successfully accelerating revenue growth, and profitability by focusing on strategy, innovation, corporate development, and digital transformation," Johnson said in a statement. “Neil’s fresh perspective and deep experience will further accelerate our consumer-led strategies as we continue to expand our customer base and delight them with a broader and richer product offering and diversify our business across brands, categories, and channels.”
Bansal’s appointment comes as the activewear retailer makes changes to its brand portfolio. Foot Locker bought WSS and Atmos for $1.1 billion in August 2021, expanding its reach into new areas. A few months later, the company combined the Eastbay and Champs brands under a new name, Champs Sports x Eastbay, and a new logo. In April, Champs Sports unveiled a new store concept called “Champs Sports Homefield,” which features a basketball and multi-sport court, a virtual reality system and a treadmill for testing running shoes.
Foot Locker has also worked to diversify its assortment of athletic brands as one of its major suppliers, Nike, shifts further away from the wholesale model. Shortly after Foot Locker expanded its partnership with Reebok to add more of its exclusive footwear to stores, Johnson said the lineup of Nike products will decrease as Nike focuses on its DTC strategy and Foot Locker looks to give shoppers more choices. Last month, Foot Locker broadened its partnership with Adidas as part of those efforts. In late May, Johnson said that the retailer’s efforts to diversify its product assortment were going well.
