Foot Locker touts 'renewed' relationship with Nike as it reports decline in profit

Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon connected Monday touted a "renewed" and revitalized narration with Nike, including an accent connected what she called "sneaker culture."

Shares of Foot Locker roseate astir 4%. The sneaker and athletic-apparel retailer besides reported quarterly earnings Monday morning. 

During the vacation quarter, which ended Jan. 28, Foot Locker posted conscionable nether $2.34 cardinal successful sales, somewhat little than a twelvemonth earlier. Its nett for the play came successful astatine $19 million, oregon 20 cents a share, compared with $103 million, oregon $1.02 a share, a twelvemonth earlier. Excluding items, net per stock were 97 cents, down from $1.46.

For the existent fiscal year, which volition see an other week, Foot Locker expects income and comparable income to beryllium down 3.5% to 5.5%, with adjusted net per stock of $3.35 to $3.65.

Since Dillon took implicit arsenic main enforcement of Foot Locker successful September, she's spent a "great woody of clip with Nike revitalizing our partnership" aft Nike moved distant from wholesale channels to absorption connected gathering retired nonstop to user sales. 

"Of course, Nike is our largest marque spouse and the person successful the industry. From time 1 I've been welcomed to the manufacture by John and Heidi and their team," Dillon said of Nike CEO John Donahoe and Heidi O'Neill, its president of user and marketplace.

Dillon, the erstwhile main enforcement of Ulta, said Foot Locker and Nike person "re-established associated planning, arsenic good arsenic information and penetration sharing." 

"The fruits of our renewed committedness to 1 different volition statesman to amusement up successful vacation this twelvemonth arsenic we physique expanding momentum to 2024 and the 50th day of Foot Locker," Dillon said. 

For the past respective years, Nike has been moving to turn its nonstop to user concern and with it, chopped partnerships with galore wholesale accounts truthful it could turn its e-commerce channels and unfastened caller stores. 

However, similar different retailers, Nike was stuck with a glut of inventory brought connected by pandemic-related proviso concatenation challenges implicit the past fewer quarters and relied connected those wholesale partners to determination that merchandise out. 

During its fiscal-second 4th that ended Nov. 30, wholesale gross was up 19% for the 4th aft it'd been efficaciously level implicit the erstwhile respective quarters. 

In January, erstwhile asked astir Nike's nonstop to user plans during an interrogation with CNBC, Donahoe spoke astir the value of an omnichannel model.

"Our strategical wholesale partners, partners similar Dick's Sporting Goods oregon Foot Locker oregon JD are very, precise important due to the fact that consumers privation to beryllium capable to effort connected products, they privation to beryllium capable to interaction and feel," Donahoe said. "And truthful we've invested successful strengthening those strategical relationships."