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, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The similarly named chains in Australia, New Zealand and Woolworths 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 names. 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.

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Total store locations, 1879–present

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,{"y":4609,"series":"y3","x":1997},{"y":4232,"series":"y3","x":1998},{"y":3710,"series":"y3","x":1999},{"y":3752,"series":"y3","x":2000},{"y":3590,"series":"y3","x":2001},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1961},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1962},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1963},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1964},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1965},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1966},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1967},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1968},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1969},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":1970},{"y":312,"series":"y4","x":1971},{"y":311,"series":"y4","x":1972},{"y":266,"series":"y4","x":1973},{"y":278,"series":"y4","x":1974},{"y":289,"series":"y4","x":1975},{"y":276,"series":"y4","x":1976},{"y":276,"series":"y4","x":1977},{"y":289,"series":"y4","x":1978},{"y":306,"series":"y4","x":1979},{"y":379,"series":"y4","x":1980},{"y":375,"series":"y4","x":1981},{"y":360,"series":"y4","x":1982},{"y":478,"series":"y4","x":1983},{"y":526,"series":"y4","x":1984},{"y":687,"series":"y4","x":1985},{"y":889,"series":"y4","x":1986},{"y":1411,"series":"y4","x":1987},{"y":1604,"series":"y4","x":1988},{"y":1990,"series":"y4","x":1989},{"y":2270,"series":"y4","x":1990},{"y":2408,"series":"y4","x":1991},{"y":2999,"series":"y4","x":1992},{"y":2673,"series":"y4","x":1993},{"y":2773,"series":"y4","x":1994},{"y":2407,"series":"y4","x":1995},{"y":2165,"series":"y4","x":1996},{"y":2102,"series":"y4","x":1997},{"y":2057,"series":"y4","x":1998},{"y":921,"series":"y4","x":1999},{"y":0,"series":"y4","x":2000}]}],"width":400}</graph>

Woolworth (blue), Woolco (orange), Athletic Group (green), and other (red)
store locations; 1962–2001

Date	Total	Woolworth variety	Woolco	Shoes and athletics	Richman Brothers	Children's	Other
February 1879	1	1
November 1880	2	2
January 1884	5	5
January 1886	7	7
December 1895	28	28
January 1900	59	59
December 1903	76	76
December 1904	120	120
November 1906	182	182
February 1909	238	238
January 1911	286	286
August 1911	318	318
December 1911	596	596
December 1912	631	631
December 1913	684	684
December 1914	737	737
December 1915	805	805
December 1916	920	920
December 1917	1,000	1,000
December 1918	1,039	1,039
December 1919	1,081	1,081
December 1920	1,111	1,111
December 1921	1,137	1,137
December 1922	1,176	1,176
December 1923	1,260	1,260
December 1924	1,356	1,356
December 1925	1,423	1,423
December 1926	1,480	1,480
December 1927	1,581	1,581
December 1928	1,725	1,725
December 1929	1,825	1,825
December 1930	1,881	1,881
December 1931	1,903	1,903
December 1932	1,932	1,932
December 1933	1,941	1,941
December 1934	1,957	1,957
December 1935	1,980	1,980
December 1936	1,998	1,998
December 1937	2,010	2,010
December 1938	2,015	2,015
December 1939	2,021	2,021
December 1940	2,027	2,027
December 1941	2,023	2,023
December 1942	2,015	2,015
December 1943	2,008	2,008
December 1944	2,004	2,004
December 1945	1,971	1,971
December 1946	1,958	1,958
December 1947	1,945	1,945
December 1948	1,944	1,944
December 1949	1,938	1,938
December 1950	1,936	1,936
December 1951	1,943	1,943
December 1952	1,960	1,960
December 1953	1,981	1,981
December 1954	2,021	2,021
December 1955	2,064	2,064
December 1956	2,101	2,101
December 1957	2,121	2,121
December 1958	2,152	2,152
December 1959	2,221	2,221
December 1960	2,430	2,430
December 1961	2,502	2,502	0
December 1962	2,529	2,522	7	0
December 1963	3,108	2,514	10	584
December 1964	3,132	2,506	16	610
December 1965	3,160	2,480	27	653
December 1966	3,245	2,474	52	719
December 1967	3,294	2,433	67	794
December 1968	3,381	2,416	92	873
December 1969	3,521	2,351	125	1,045
December 1970	3,597	2,283	160	1,154	0
December 1971	3,977	2,199	197	1,269	312
December 1972	4,022	2,121	239	1,351	311
January 1974	4,099	2,058	294	1,481	266
January 1975	4,204	1,993	328	1,605	278
January 1976	4,334	1,959	346	1,740	289
January 1977	4,460	1,944	359	1,881	276
January 1978	4,593	1,899	383	2,035	276
January 1979	4,761	1,849	404	2,219	289		0
January 1980	5,007	1,800	426	2,483	298		8
January 1981	5,399	1,762	464	2,847	326		53
January 1982	5,311	1,707	455	2,813	336		39
January 1983	5,094	1,665	120	2,979	330	0	30
January 1984	5,113	1,641	121	3,036	315	120	43
January 1985	5,333	1,621	120	3,282	310	167	49
January 1986	5,822	1,600	120	3,415	315	211	161
January 1987	6,309	1,561	119	3,740	319	277	293
January 1988	6,799	1,552	120	3,716	173	351	887
January 1989	7,739	1,521	120	4,494	148	416	1,040
January 1990	8,074	1,527	146	4,411	145	456	1,389
January 1991	8,619	1,506	147	4,696	147	460	1,663
January 1992	8,386	1,465	148	4,365	0	387	2,021
January 1993	8,990	1,437	149	4,405		349	2,650
January 1994	8,490	932	122	4,763		0	2,673
January 1995	8,629	1,027	0	4,829			2,773
January 1996	8,178	1,022		4,749			2,407
January 1997	7,746	988		4,593			2,165
January 1998	7,237	526		4,609			2,102
January 1999	6,289	0		4,232			2,057
January 2000	4,631			3,710			921
January 2001	3,752			3,752			0
January 2002	3,590			3,590
January 2003	3,625			3,625
January 2004	3,610			3,610
January 2005	3,967			3,967
January 2006	3,921			3,921
January 2007	3,942			3,942
January 2008	3,785			3,785
January 2009	3,641			3,641
January 2010	3,500			3,500
January 2011	3,426			3,426
January 2012	3,369			3,369
January 2013	3,335			3,335
January 2014	3,473			3,473
January 2015	3,423			3,423
January 2016	3,383			3,383
January 2017	3,363			3,363
January 2018	3,310			3,310
January 2019	3,221			3,221
January 2020	3,129			3,129
January 2021	2,998			2,998
January 2022	2,858			2,858

Date	Total	Foot Locker U.S.	Foot Locker International	Kids Foot Locker	Lady Foot Locker	Champs Sports	Footaction, Sidestep, WSS, atmos
January 2002	3,590	1,472	521	391	632	574	0
January 2003	3,625	1,477	583	377	606	582	0
January 2004	3,610	1,448	640	357	584	581	0
January 2005	3,967	1,428	707	346	567	570	349
January 2006	3,921	1,398	723	327	554	556	363
January 2007	3,942	1,368	733	335	557	576	373
January 2008	3,785	1,275	731	321	526	576	356
January 2009	3,641	1,218	732	305	486	565	335
January 2010	3,500	1,171	740	301	415	552	321
January 2011	3,426	1,144	751	294	378	540	319
January 2012	3,369	1,118	781	291	331	534	314
January 2013	3,335	1,072	811	305	303	539	305
January 2014	3,473	1,044	824	336	257	542	470
January 2015	3,423	1,015	820	357	213	547	471
January 2016	3,383	971	825	374	156	550	507
January 2017	3,363	948	836	411	124	545	499
January 2018	3,310	910	845	436	85	541	493
January 2019	3,221	886	848	428	57	535	467
January 2020	3,129	867	846	431	46	536	403
January 2021	2,998	848	838	422	35	539	316
January 2022	2,858	802	845	410	14	525	262