Foot Locker opens new flagship on Paris's Champs-Elysées

This summer Foot Locker inaugurated a new store on the Champs-Elysées. Five years after opening a vibrant concept store on three levels at number 66 of the avenue, the US sneaker retailer has done it again, opening a second store at number 36. While the existing store is still open, Foot Locker has gone for even larger premises, in what is said to be its biggest European store, taking over a former Gap flagship.

The 392 square meter ground floor of Foot Locker’s new store is dedicated to men's shoes, while on the first floor 310 square meters are dedicated to women's and children’s shoes and the 184 square meter basement is home to basketball mania.

For the first time, the latter is not a House of Hoops, which is a concept Foot Locker developed with Nike, but this time is called the Home Court Floor, showcasing a multibrand basketball shoes selection.

“The store offers a top-notch sales journey, including technology-driven experiences for customers as well as original artworks by local artists, inspired by the city of Paris itself,” said Foot Locker in a press release.

French contemporary artist and designer Nairone was asked to decorate the floor showcasing the men’s range. Lebanese illustrator Raphaëlle Macaron expressed herself on the walls of the first floor. Finally, the basketball culture came alive in the interpretation of Franco-Portuguese artist Alexandra de Assuncao.

On the digital side, another French artist, Grégory Demont, devised the character that features in the store’s digital animations, Strkier the robot.

Foot Locker has highlighted the digital interaction features available at the new branch, from multiple QR codes that can be scanned throughout the store, to the huge curved LED screen on which customers can take part in a quiz and try to win prizes.

“The new Paris store shows the energy that Foot Locker brings to communities across the continent, as we continue to get closer to local communities and bring real added value to our customers by offering them a store that goes beyond the traditional shopping experience,” said Susie Kuhn, president of Foot Locker Europe.

The new Champs-Elysées store indeed marks an evolution in Foot Locker’s approach: until now, in Europe, the retailer had deployed an extremely homogeneous concept for the approximately 630 stores it was operating as of July 30, 2022. Foot Locker is relying on the new store to win over Parisians, the tourists flocking back in numbers to the French capital and, most certainly, future visitors for the 2024 Olympic Games too.

The Foot Locker group appointed a new CEO on September 1st, and in H1 2022 it generated sales worth just over $2 billion.

Foot Locker opens new flagship on Paris's Champs-Elysées

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