Foot Locker, Inc.

Foot Locker, Inc. is an American retail company specializing in the sale of athletic shoes and related equipment. Founded in 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth, the corporation started as the F.W. Woolworth Company, which introduced the concept of the variety store, or "five-and-dime". Reaching a peak of over 2,500 Woolworth stores in the early 1960s, the company diversified with the creation of Woolco stores in 1962 and the purchase of Kinney Shoe Corporation in 1963. Woolworth created dozens of specialty chains, leading the company to become the world's largest retailer by store count for a time, with nearly 9,000 locations by 1992. The failure of Woolco and Woolworth's variety stores in the 1980s and 1990s left only the company's athletic division standing, and it briefly renamed itself Venator Group before taking the name "Foot Locker" after its largest surviving brand. As of 2022, the company operates 2,858 Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Footaction, Sidestep, WSS, and atmos stores.

Store history
Woolworth operated general merchandise stores under its own name in the United States, Canada, West Germany, Mexico, and Spain. The similarly named chains in United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are and have always been unrelated. Other general merchandise operations of the company included Woolworth Express, Robinson's, Mini Shops, The Bargain! Shop, Woolco, and Worth Mart.

The company has operated thousands of specialty stores, primarily in enclosed shopping malls, under dozens of brand named. The Athletic Group, now the only surviving portion, has historically included Kinney Shoes, Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, World Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Eastbay, Williams the Shoemen, Athletic X-Press, Mathers, Moderna, Der Schuh, Footquarters, Vic Jensen's, Going to the Game!, Fredelle, and Randy River women's stores. Children's stores included Kids Mart and Little Folk Shop. The company's Northern Group included Northern Reflections, Northern Getaway, Northern Traditions, and Northern Elements. Other specialty stores operated by the company at various times have included J. Brannam, Shirt Closet, Afterthoughts, Carimar, Rubin, Reflexions, The San Francisco Music Box Company, Randy River men's stores, Caruba, Canary Island, The Best of Times, Willow Ridge, Silk and Satin, Fredelle, Ashbrooks, Bon Gout, Lady Foot Locker Casuals, and Colorado.