Foot Locker partners with Nike to build 50 “power stores”

More than 800 square meters and spaces for events

With a surface area of more than 836 square meters, the new Manhattan store features products for men, women and children from brands such as Adidas, Champion and Reebok, and a large amount of space dedicated to Nike's different brands and collections, such as Jordan and Home&Away. In addition to having an exclusive space for women and lockers where online orders can be collected, the store has large flat-screen televisions and seating; elements responsible for shaping the space dedicated to events that all stores in this category will have. An initiative with which the company seeks to create much more immersive and experiential spaces.

The new establishment has also become, by virtue of the agreement reached between both companies, the first store to which Nike brings part of its patented technology. It is the first time that the sports firm has decided to introduce it inside a store operated by another business group. Thanks to this, in the new establishments, customers who belong to Nike's loyalty club will be able to scan bar codes from the Nike mobile application. In doing so, they can obtain gifts such as sunglasses, access to exclusive products or sneakers. Strategies that Nike has already been testing in some of its stores such as Nike Live on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

“It’s not something we traditionally do,” Ann Hebert, Nike’s vice president of global sales, was quick to point out in a statement to CNBC. She added that Nike knew it would need a partner to grow its business, especially in areas where the company does not yet have stores of its own. “Partners are in charge of expanding that relationship with consumers for us,” adding that consumers “want to be able to choose. So we have to make sure we are there during that process.”

In addition to Foot Locker, Nike could also enter into similar partnerships with other business groups, according to Hebert herself. She said that “the goal is to take it to other partners who share our same vision of customer service,” which “we are working on right now with a very strict criterion.”

Objective: to reach out to the new generation of consumers

Foot Locker, whose shares have fallen by 24 percent so far this year, is aware of the highly competitive market, especially with the rise of online commerce and the emergence of groups such as Amazon. That is why the company has based its growth plans on the creation of a new category of stores that will allow it to update its physical sales outlets, seeking to create much more attractive spaces for new generations of consumers.

“Our goal is definitely to understand how technology and the consumer behave inside [power stores],” said Frank Bracken, vice president of Foot Locker. He said the company also plans to expand its network of stores into “underserved communities” where there is a strong “sneaker culture.”