Dive Brief:
- As part of its strategy to be retail’s center for basketball and sneaker culture, Foot Locker will be at this year’s NBA All-Star Game to host four days of related activations ahead of the game, per a company press release.
- Slated to take place Feb.13 through Feb.16 at a 34,000-square-foot, two-level location in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood, the customer experience will feature a variety of activations from such brands as Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Crocs, Anta and New Era Cap.
- The venue will feature product drops and product customization. Foot Locker will partner with Nike and Jordan Brand to bring back The Clinic, an experiential LED court that lights up with content and skills and drills challenges. Appearances will also be made from top NBA stars such as Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young and LaMelo Ball.
Dive Insight:
This marks the second consecutive year that Foot Locker has held activations during the NBA All-Star weekend. Last year’s events took place in Indianapolis after the NBA and Foot Locker announced a multiyear partnership in November of 2023.
“This year, we’re building on that success by expanding the scale with a dynamic two-story space, immersive multi-brand experiences, even more high heat sneaker drops across top brands, and a broader lineup of star NBA athletes,” Kim Waldmann, Foot Locker’s chief customer officer, said in an email.
Among the new releases are the Nike Kobe VI “ASW,” Jordan Retro 12 Flu Game and an exclusive colorway of the Adidas Anthony Edwards 1 Mid. Foot Locker is promoting its activation weekend through out-of-home signage, street teams, digital trucks with billboards and influencers, according to Waldmann.
“Part of Foot Locker’s challenge is to embed itself more strongly into sneaker culture,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders said in an email. “The NBA partnership is a good way of doing this as it gives them exposure and keeps the brand firmly on the radar of people interested in both sports and sneakers. What’s key, however, is that the proposition in terms of the stores and offer live up to the promise.”
Foot Locker’s activation at the NBA All-Star Game comes as the retailer is investing in its store fleet. The retailer unveiled a reimagined store concept about a year ago and targeted eight openings of the newly redesigned stores in fiscal 2024, including at 34th Street in New York City and La Defense in Paris.
As the retailer continues to refresh some stores and close others, Foot Locker has faced sales declines. For its third quarter, sales fell 1.4% year over year as the retailer noted “softness” from its largest brand partner, Nike. Foot Locker lowered its full-year outlook at the time, now projecting annual sales to fall 1% to 1.5%.
While the partnership with the NBA “will help drive traffic and interest to Foot Locker,” the retailer “needs to convert that into sales through a strong offer,” Saunders said. “There is clearly more work to do, but the sense is that Foot Locker is making progress.”
