Some 70% of Foot Locker’s sales in 2021 were in Nike product, the retailer said in its 2021 public filings, and it is now saying no single vendor will account for more than 55% of its merchandise selection. For this fiscal year it will be about 60% of its merchandise purchases, the company said. Its stock had immediately took a 30% dive last week following the news and while it recovered some of that as the new week began Foot Locker shares are still off about a quarter since the start of the year and, at a $31.62 close on Monday, less than half of their 52-week high set last May.
Foot Locker, Washington Heights, NYC
Foot Locker said it expects sales to decline between 8% and 10% this year as it looks to expand offerings from other brands like Adidas, Puma, New Balance and Crocs. But as CEO Richard Johnson told analysts last week in referring to the big sales spike a Michael Jordan-branded drop from Nike can generate, “That’s a tough dynamic to overcome.”
Since it began cutting back third-party selling, it has dropped a number of big national retailers, including DSW, Zappos, Dillard’s, Urban Outfitters and Shoe Show. Nike has not commented publicly on this Foot Locker news.
Warren Shoulberg Forbes contributor
