The first project for the year involved the relocation of the Croydon Foot Locker store on the local high street. The new premises for the store have resulted in it being 3 times larger than it was in its previous location. The new unit provides Foot Locker with 500 sqm of sales floor on the ground floor level and 200 sqm of staff and stock areas at basement level. This location was designed under the banner of a community store, with enhanced “hang-out” zones and interactive content. With the future plans being developed for the wider Croydon Town Centre, the store will be serving the local community for some time to come.
Slough followed, with Foot Locker taking over a vacant retail unit, in which we delivered a sales floor of 200 sqm and 200 sqm of stock and staff area. As a core store, the focus was to provide a good sized offering across all key categories. Utilising the latest concepts, Foot Locker have moved away from central cash desks, and instead placed pay points at strategic locations around the store, thus freeing customers from queuing and promoting a more personalised service. The new store is helping to enhance the council led redevelopment of Slough’s high street, providing a valuable destination store to the local community.
Harrow was next on our list, with a relocation from the high street to the St Ann’s Mall. The landlords combined two units into one space for Foot Locker, enabling us to deliver 185 sqm of sales on the ground floor and 186 sqm of staff and stock space on the first floor. Working closely with the landlords, we were able to identify items that could be retained and not stripped out, not only saving on construction budgets, but also preventing perfectly usable staff facilities from being removed and ending up in landfill. As a business, we are constantly challenging each other to view projects from a cost conscious and sustainable standing, while keeping true to the brand standards of our clients.
The most recent Foot Locker project we delivered this year, is an outlet store in Birmingham’s Perry Bar. The challenge the team had to overcome, was to deliver a store with a tight budget and timeline, whilst retaining the key brand integrity and also presenting the impression of value to customers. This was successful because we adopted a highly creative and sustainable approach to displays, re-using fixturing from closing stores and being stored in stock rooms of existing stores. It highlights the question of how many retailers might have stock rooms taken up with display stands and VM equipment, that could be re-used, rather than ending up gathering dust.
More stores are on the drawing board for the rest of the year and well into 2025, each with their own unique challenges, which we look forward to delivering.
