Foot Locker's HQ relocation to St. Pete has been revived
By Pam Huff and Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 28, 2024

Global retailer Foot Locker Inc. will move its headquarters to St. Petersburg in 2025 in a relocation deal that Mayor Ken Welch says will create upwards of 150 jobs.

Mary Dillon, president and CEO of Foot Locker, said on an earnings call Wednesday that the company already has a "meaningful executive and commercial presence" in St. Pete. Its office is at 140 Fountain Parkway in the Carillon Office Park. JLL is representing Foot Locker in its search for St. Pete real estate.

"We have a large center of gravity there already," Dillon said. "It’s a great place for us to continue to grow."

The move comes three years after St. Pete officials rolled out an incentive package to lure the New York-based retail giant to the Sunshine City under the code name Project Athena. By fall 2022, the deal appeared to be dead.

Dillon didn't say how many of its employees would be located in St. Pete but said there would be no requirement for employees to move. Details of which departments would be located in St. Pete will be released later, she said.

Foot Locker will be offered base and hiring incentives pending City Council approval, according to a news release.

"Foot Locker's move represents a significant corporate relocation and importantly, it's another example of impactful and inclusive economic development in our city and the Tampa Bay region," Welch said in a statement.

This isn't the first time a New York company has relocated to St. Pete: Dynasty Financial and ARK Invest did so in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Pinellas County's director of economic development Cynthia Johnson said the collaboration between different levels of government allowed all three relocations to happen.

There will be long-term financial benefits associated with moving to Florida, Dillon said. Champs Sports, a subsidiary of Foot Locker, is already headquartered in West Bradenton.

The company has struggled in recent years as its footwear companies increasingly bypass wholesale retailers and sell directly to the consumer. In the three-month period that ended Aug. 3, Foot Locker posted a loss of $12 million, or 13 cents per share.

The company also announced on Wednesday that it would close stores and e-commerce operations in South Korea, Denmark, Norway and Sweden while transferring its operations in Greece and Romania to a third-party company called Fourlis Group.

Dillon, the former CEO of Ulta Beauty, has spearheaded an effort to reimagine Foot Locker's store concepts and sell more exclusive sneakers. By 2026, it aims to have 50% of its square footage to be located off-mall and to have 25% of its sales occur digitally.

"I remain confident that we are taking the right actions to position the company for its next 50 years of profitable growth and create long-term shareholder value," Dillon said in the earnings report.

Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) ranked No. 458 on the most recent Fortune 500.

"Foot Locker is so well-aligned with St. Pete," St. Pete EDC President and CEO Mike Swesey said in a statement. "Foot Locker's creative focus on their young, diverse customer base mirrors the creativity and diversity found here, and we're a city where people sport sneakers both in the boardroom and by the bay, so we welcome our new sneakerhead neighbors."