design:retail - April 2017 - 58

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where cool kicks
are both statement and investment pieces, the popularity of athleisure
is still growing and street style reigns supreme, Foot
Locker decided to answer the call of footwear fans by opening a completely redesigned mega-store in Manhattan's
Herald Square.
Last August, joined by NBA star Joakim Noah with
marching band Brooklyn United sounding the alarm, the
athletic footwear and apparel giant debuted a revamped
store occupying nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of prime retail space,
drawing local and international "sneaker freaks."
Foot Locker's redesign tackled rethinking the store's
layout and merchandising approach. Rather than displaying products organized by category, the Foot Locker
team-with the help of Columbus, Ohio-based Big Red
Rooster, a JLL company-opted to let customers self-navigate by creating branded shops within.
The game plan was to use customers' brand allegiance
as a guiding force from a retail design perspective and as
a winning business strategy in an era that has seen some
of Foot Locker's competitors folding, while companies
like Nike, Under Armour and adidas are opening branded
houses and boutique sneaker shops that are becoming
significant players in major cities.
"As a house of brands, it couldn't look like just a series
of shops under one roof," says Aaron Spiess, executive
vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and co-founder
and former CEO of Big Red Rooster. He found that one of
the biggest design feats was not having brands' spaces
clash, while also continuing to push forward the Foot
Locker message overall.
"Making the brand shops and zones flow seamlessly
was a challenge," Spiess says. "The store is comprised of
shop-in-shops that take on their own personalities. We
needed to achieve a balance for being on brand for Foot
Locker, but also allow these brand shops to express themselves and cut through."
In displaying a range of different merchandisers'
offerings-from sneakers to T-shirts to socks to laces-
flexibility was a crucial factor, since the fixture system
needed the ability to tell different brand stories with
varying levels of inventory, Spiess explains. "We needed
to give the retailer the ability to change the flow of the
experience to be continually fresh and relevant to their
consumer," he adds.
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Brands like the Puma Lab, adidas Foundation, House of
Hoops and Foot Locker's SIX:02, created for the athleticdriven, style-conscious modern woman, have "brand
portals at the entry to their space," Spiess describes.
Meanwhile, he says, other brands have space within their
zone for call-outs and new release communications.
"The branded shops provide the consumer with an
ultimate sense of discovery and dynamic brand communication," says Danette Kroll, vice president of store
planning and design, Foot Locker.
The flagship store "combines cutting-edge design with
strategic initiatives to provide our consumer with an impactful and innovative space to shop and buy," Kroll adds.
With the store offering so many options, it's critical
shoppers can quickly single out their favorites, so brands'
attitudes via distinct colors and materials were played up
within square and rectangular frames within the wall
system, Spiess explains, allotting for "unique brand expression with consistency in how and where the brand is
expressed. It gives the space the visual continuity it needs
to feel like a cohesive experience."
Big Red Rooster and Foot Locker, which had collaborated together on past projects, worked for two to
three months on the design process, deciding to take a
"footwear first" approach to visual merchandising and
introduce apparel and accessories to "tell richer stories,"
Spiess notes.

"We wanted to create a
destination for 'sneakerheads'-
an inclusive place where people
feel comfortable and inspired."
-AARON SPIESS, JONES LANG LASALLE
One of the most successful in-shop experiences is
Foot Locker's introduction of its carefully curated SIX:02
line to New York and the accompanying 700-sq.-ft. "The
Collection at SIX:02" space of rotating merchandise. Big
names like Nike and adidas are paired with more boutique lines with cult followings like Ivy Park, FENTY
PUMA by Rihanna and Spiritual Gangster for the elevated, hipster yogi. White brick walls, light wood flooring,
digital content boards and clean fixtures distinguish a
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