Foot Locker has launched its first Canadian Community Power Store in Vancouver with another one coming to Toronto and this follows openings of the power stores in Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, London, Compton, Liverpool, and Hong Kong.
The Vancouver store has opened while the Toronto store will open this month.
“We are so excited to bring our Power Store model to Canada over the next two months,” said Richard McLeod, Vice President of Marketing for Foot Locker, North America. “Although the shopping experience is different with current guidelines, we look forward to bringing locally-curated experiences to the Vancouver and Toronto sneaker communities.”
Foot Locker’s Vancouver community-based Power Store is located at 1067 Robson Street. The Toronto store will be located at 306 Yonge Street.
Foot Locker’s footprint in Canada includes 119 stores. Footaction and Champs Sports, as part of the Foot Locker Inc. family, have 38 locations.
“The Vancouver Community Power Store offers an elevated retail experience, including full-family shopping with exclusive product, custom artwork by local artists and an activation space that will host ongoing community events for the sneaker-obsessed,” said McLeod.
“For the opening, two local artists Tierney Milne and KC Hall designed custom artwork for the interior of the store. We hope that we can utilize the store’s activation space soon by safely planning events such as hosting local DJs and brands. This store has also made a commitment to hire local residents who are naturally connected to sneaker and youth culture, as well as have diverse backgrounds and can speak multiple languages such as Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Punjabi, and Vietnamese.”
The new 15,000-square-foot store in Vancouver offers a three-storey retail experience, including a second-floor activation space where events may be hosted with key brand partners and influencers for the local community (pending COVID-19 restrictions).
The store offers an assortment of Nike, Jordan, and Adidas product in men’s, women’s, and kids, as well as a highly anticipated IVY PARK drop on day one. Foot Locker’s exclusive COLLABORAID product – a giveback initiative that brings together more than a dozen notable creatives with a shared mission of aiding in the recovery from COVID-19 through sneaker culture – will also be available in the Vancouver store.
Foot Locker is a part of Foot Locker, Inc. Its brands include Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Eastbay, Footaction, Runners Point, and Sidestep. It has about 3,100 retail stores in 27 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
“The Vancouver Power Store opened after successfully opening stores in Compton, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, London, Liverpool, and Hong Kong. A Power Store in Toronto is planned to open later this year or early 2021 (dependent on COVID-19 guidelines),” added McLeod.
“The Power Store model allows us to scale our consumer connectivity into many more markets. While retail and many other industries face unprecedented times, innovation is coming through and evolving the space. We believe that to play a role in this “new” landscape, the community needs to be at the core of the retail experience — which is what our Power Store model is all about.
“We’re focused on creating immersive brand connections that are authentically tied to the neighbourhoods they serve; from the local store staff that we hire to the products and experiences we offer. We make a point to be a part of the communities these stores are located in.”
Foot Locker Reports Strong Third Quarter Financial Results Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
McLeod said the company recently reported its third quarter financial results with strong comparable store sales increasing by 7.7 percent.
“Because of the pandemic, we’ve definitely seen more of our customers engaging with us online which has made the product assortment and content on our ecommerce remain a key priority,” he said.
“Foot Locker exists to serve the sneaker-obsessed consumer, and we’re excited that more people took advantage of being outside and exercising to stay busy during this time. We are definitely encouraging our consumers to stay safe and enjoy the outdoors this season. With more people staying at home, we are continuing to offer cozy loungewear, athleisure looks and fitness products from some of the top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Ivy Park.
“To connect with our consumers socially, we recently partnered with Canadian influencers highlighting outdoor activities, such as a music performance by @zackzoya, backyard movie night with @kayla_grey and a podcast with @extragravyshow.”
