Andrew Rizzo Your neighborhood Foot Locker might be closing its doors soon. According to a statement included in the company’s third quarter earnings report, DICK’S Sporting Goods, which acquired the sneaker chain in May 2025 for $2.4 billion, is preparing to close a number of Foot Locker locations in an effort to protect the parent company’s profitability heading into 2026.
The brand is “clearing out unproductive inventory, closing underperforming stores, and right sizing assets that don’t align with our go forward vision for the Foot Locker business,” per the statement. This type of restructuring is common in major retail acquisitions: a healthy company buys a struggling one, invests in its strengths, trims what’s not working, and streamlines operations for maximum efficiency. We’ve already seen the early stages of that plan through markdowns and an improved, more curated product assortment at Foot Locker since the acquisition. Now the real cost cutting begins with the closure of stores that have consistently underperformed.
Foot Locker’s struggles have been well documented in recent years. Nike’s heavy shift toward direct to consumer has played a significant role, ultimately leading the sportswear giant to part ways with former CEO John Donahoe. Meanwhile, the DICK’S flagship business has continued to perform quite well, surpassing sales expectations in the third quarter per the new report. DICK’S did note that its Foot Locker restructuring efforts could cost up to $750 million, a figure that contributed to a dip in company shares during trading today.
DICK’S has not yet confirmed how many of Foot Locker’s more than 2,400 global locations it plans to close. Logic suggests that markets with overlapping or redundant stores are most likely to feel the impact. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as soon as more information becomes available.
