Dive Brief:

• As part of Foot Locker’s effort to reinvigorate the flagging brand, Champs Sports has launched a new brand platform called “Sport For Life,” aimed at showing how sports can help customers navigate life, according to a release emailed to Retail Dive.
• The repositioning includes partnerships with Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. The new brand platform comes as Champs is in the midst of a broader brand overhaul, including updating its merchandising and storytelling in stores.
• As the Champs store fleet undergoes changes, including previously announced plans to close 125 Champs stores by 2026, the brand is updating its stores with a wider selection of local sports products and experiential activities such as a monthly running club, the brand said.

Dive Insight:

Champs envisions its brand positioning, which emphasizes the resilience and camaraderie of sports, as catering to consumers who see active sports as encompassing a lifestyle both on and off the field.

“Our new platform embodies the spirit of our core customer – the sport-style enthusiast,” Tony Aversa, senior vice president and general manager of Champs Sports, said in a statement. “Sport is more than a hobby; it is a way of life. It's about the everyday hustle, pursuit of goals, and the shared passion for sport-culture. We aim to empower our customers to embrace sport-style and provide them with the tools they need to excel in the sport of life.”

The repositioning of Champs comes at a time when the retailer’s parent, Foot Locker, is in the midst of a long-term plan to shore up its operations amid major revenue declines. Foot Locker ended its most recent fiscal year with a 6.8% decline in total sales and a $330 million net loss. The repositioning of Champs has also negatively impacted Foot Locker’s comps in recent quarters.

Under the direction of CEO Mary Dillon, Foot Locker has made sweeping changes to its store fleet, including closing 400 of its mall-based stores by 2026, shutting down its Atmos locations in North America and abandoning its Sidestep banner in Europe where it had approximately 80 stores. Foot Locker merged the Champs Sports and Eastbay brands a few years ago, later shutting down the Eastbay website.

Dillon, the former Ulta chief executive who took over as Foot Locker CEO in September 2022, also stopped the company’s expansion into Japan and overhauled the retailer’s C-suite in her first two years at the company.