Foot Locker teams up with Nike for its new, larger-size store format

Foot Locker is thinking big.

The athletic footwear and sportswear retailer has brought its customer- and community-centric format, dubbed “power store,” to Manhattan, opening a 9,000-sq.-ft. location in the city’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Featuring an array of interactive experiences, it is the first Foot Locker store to showcase some of Nike’s proprietary digital technology, specificially its “Nike App at Retail.” It’s also the first time Nike has used the technology outside of its own stores.

The Nike app allows Foot Locker shoppers who are members of Nike’s loyalty club (Nike Plus) to access digitally-led experiences, content and services throughout the Washington Heights store. Using the app, shoppers will be able to scan any Nike product to pull up information about the product and available store inventory. They can also use it to get free items such as sunglasses and laces at Nike’s vending machine-styled“unlock box.”   

The store also features Nike’s first ever “ShoeCase,” a machine that provide members with the chance to gain early access to coveted sneaker releases. Shoppers scan their NikePlus pass, which causes the machine to rotate the shoe on display. It then prints out a ticket to let the shopper know if  he or she won and can buy the sneaker.

The machine displays one shoe at a time, and will be refreshed regularly.

"The launch of the Washington Heights Community Power Store serves as an opportunity for us to enhance the in-store customer experience by working in tandem with one of our strongest partners, Nike," said Frank Bracken, VP general manager, Foot Locker & Kids Foot Locker US. "We're focused on creating immersive brand connections that are authentically tied to the neighborhoods we serve. By partnering with Nike, we're able to offer our customers a seamless and friction-less retail experience that will serve and engage the Washington Heights community beyond traditional brick and mortar capabilities."

To date, Foot Locker has opened power stores in Detroit, Philadelphia, London, Liverpool and Hong Kong. It plans to open more than a dozen new power locations across its family of brands in 2019, with upcoming stores planned for Los Angeles and Vancouver.  (According to CNBC, the retailer plans to open upwards of 50 Power stores over the next three years.)