Although the new year is young, Fleet Feet has wasted no time bolstering its brick-and-mortar presence. A pair of December 2024 acquisitions — Flying Feet in Pennsylvania and South Sound Running’s two stores in Washington — have been converted to Fleet Feet. (Fleet Feet Olympia and Fleet Feet York are now open and Fleet Feet Puyallup will debut Jan. 10).
Speaking with FN, Fleet Feet chief executive officer Joey Pointer confirmed more openings are scheduled for January, and the brick-and-mortar expansion will continue throughout 2025.
The exec also outlined the year ahead, which will present several opportunities and challenges. For instance, Pointer is excited for the reemergence of Nike in the running category (with CEO Elliott Hill now at the helm), however is wary of Fleet Feet’s ongoing product-related struggles with On.
Here is FN’s recent conversation with Pointer, edited for clarity.
When we spoke in early 2024, you had mentioned a goal of crossing the 300-store mark before year’s end. How did your brick-and-mortar growth strategy play out last year?
“We finished Dec. 31 at 299 stores, so we were one shy. We had 275 Fleet Feet stores and then we had 24 Marathon Sports. But if you look toward our brick-and-mortar growth for 2025, we’re going to open six stores in January — two of those in Washington [South Sound Running] and then we took over a store Pennsylvania [Flying Feet]. I remain committed to that goal that I’ve had for about four or five years now to get to 400 stores. I truly believe we can open 100 additional stores in the U.S. One of the things I’m most excited about from 2024 is we opened some big markets for us. We opened outside of Philadelphia, Phoenix, in Miami. We opened two stores in Mississippi — Hattiesburg and Oxford, which is a college town. Mississippi is a phenomenal state for us overall. We have a lot of room to grow from a brick-and-mortar standpoint. Here in the Carolinas, The Triangle is red-hot from people relocating. Charlotte is another good market for us and I’m bullish on the whole state of Texas. And I don’t know if it’ll be in 2025, ’26 or ’27, but I can see international on the horizon for us. We talked with a candidate pretty seriously about a location in Asia. Whether that comes to fruition or not, I don’t know, but we’re going to start to look outside the U.S., as well as here within the U.S., as we approach that 400.”
How many doors are you looking to add in 2025?
“At least 15. What I’ve learned is post-COVID is nothing ever goes as fast anymore, from permits to build-outs. Everything just seems to be a snail’s pace at some moment in time. But I don’t think 15 is unrealistic. Interest is high, both in new franchisees as well as existing franchisees opening, second, third, fourth locations. We’re looking at a handful of acquisitions, which we haven’t had many over the past couple years. You’ll see some movement from us. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit 20.”
Were sales for 2024 in line with what you expected?
“Our overall growth was like 5 percent, our comp was slightly less than that. We wanted a higher comp store sales growth than we actually achieved. We were within spitting distance of it, but we would much rather have exceeded it than missed it.”
How do you think 2025 will play out?
“Best year ever (laughs). It’s our 49th year in business and I’m bullish about 2025 and 2026, if I lump those two together. I think there are still headwinds from all sorts of external factors, but I do think that the sport of running is healthier and the consumer wanting to get out and move is the strongest I’ve ever seen it. You’re getting into this golden age where you have more people in that sweet spot between 26 and 45 who are running and walking. From our own internal perspective, we added five new leaders to our team — a new CFO, a new VP of marketing and digital, a VP of operations, supply chain and IT. And many of those were new positions. We’re going into 2025 fully staffed across our leadership with those five, and then there’s another seven or so that have two decades worth of experience, on average, at Fleet Feet. We have this good blend between new and old from a leadership perspective. From that standpoint, I’m excited. I spent close to seven weeks this past year on a road trip this past summer. I started in L.A., made my way to North Carolina and then back to L.A. visiting stores. The energy and the morale at the store at the local level is as high as I’ve ever seen it. And I think everybody there would tell you that there’s a lot of opportunity to expand our brand reach into every community that we serve, whether we’ve been there for five years or 25 years. We have a long ways to go in terms of hitting our ceiling within the marketplace.”
How about in terms of sales?
“We should be somewhere between five and 10 percent from a total growth perspective. I would love to see comp store sales north of 5 percent. I don’t think that is unrealistic.”
There continues to be tremendous parity in the running market. What brands are poised to have a strong 2025?
“Catherine Moloznik, who is our VP of purchasing, she’s been doing this for 20 years and I’ve heard her say a number of times that the product in 2025 is as good as she’s ever seen it. At that point, the consumer is going to win at every level. Hoka is our No. 1 brand. I’ve seen an 18-year-old and an 81-year-old who are wearing the same Clifton or Bondi in the same color, and they’re just standing at the mirror like, ‘We both love this too.’ It is the wildest thing. But in 2025, I’m not sure they’re going to be No. 1. I think that other brands are catching up from a product standpoint, they’re being more aggressive in terms of reaching out to the customers, in terms of their distribution strategy. I think that Brooks will have an incredible year. Their product is as good as it’s been in a decade. That No. 1 and No. 2 spot will be very heated between Brooks and Hoka, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brooks take it. When I think of legacy brands, Asics, New Balance and Saucony, I think all three are poised for a great year. Probably the brand that is going to have a great year but may not have a great year at Fleet Feet is going to be On. We’ve struggled with them as they’ve grown to actually get the right assortment and get product flowing into our stores on a regular basis. I’m personally not as bullish on On. I’m just not sure that they can deliver. I’m more excited about some of the smaller brands. When I think of emerging brands, I think of Altra. They’ve gone from zero drop to having a drop now and have expanded their line. We’re starting to see some positive momentum from Altra. Karhu, who is exclusive to us, has been well received by customers. One brand new to us is Hylo. We’re going to introduce Hylo to our customers in 2025, I’m excited about that. When people come into Fleet Feet, they want to not only buy whatever it is they’ve worn for the last decade, they want to try something new and exciting. We can be that tastemaker and introduce new things to our customers.”
What struggles are you having with On?
“We’re just not getting the product. That is universal across Fleet Feet, whether it’s franchise or company-owned doors, we’re just not getting product at the rate that we need so they’ve lost momentum and market share. We were one of the early pioneers with On. Over a decade ago, we put them in every store, whether it was franchise or company owned, and we pumped On even before On became hot. We’ve struggled with them the last two years as they’ve had explosive growth. I think a question for them is do they want to prioritize specialty running retailers like Fleet Feet or insert another name here. We’ll let the chips fall where they fall. A brand that may surprise you that we haven’t probably talked about a lot is we’re trying to reemerge with Nike. We’ve done very little with Nike over the past four or five years, since before COVID, but we’re back at the table with them, looking to do some exciting events in 2025.”
What has Nike done that has you excited?
“Bringing Elliot Hill back was a great thing. Getting the band back together and they can get back to some sort of semblance between partnering with retailers and also growing their own direct consumer, it’s not a job that I would want, to be in his seat and have the scope, but I wouldn’t bet against him. Our discussions over the past six months with Nike have been very favorable and we are pushing to do some innovation together as we move into 2025 and launch some bigger events in partnership with them.”
Right before The Running Event last November, you announced a partnership with Hylo Athletics. Are you looking to bring on any other emerging brands?
“We are always open to partner with brands, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be on the footwear side. If you look across other categories, whether it’s apparel or nutrition or anybody within the health and wellness space, we’re open to ideas as to what that looks like. As much as I talk about product being better as it’s ever been, I’d still love to see more innovation. Think of the Next % when Nike started ‘Chasing 2,’ they kind of redefined carbon-plated and fast shoes. What’s that next leap forward going to be? I would actually love to see more innovation. Not the .01 percent increase. What’s the next two or three or four percent that makes me better?”
That’s interesting because leaving The Running Event in December, innovation was a hot topic. Is there anything you’re particularly excited about when it comes to innovation?
“I don’t have any one thing from a product standpoint. I think the footwear that we’re going to sell is going to be better than ever before, but not that next radical leap forward. That’s where I’m sort of drawing the line. I don’t actually have something that I’m like, ‘We should get all in on this’ from a product standpoint.”
The casual runner has become the majority in recent years and the core, more dedicated runner is now the minority. How would you assess how brands are catering to the everyday runner?
“At Fleet Feet, one of the things that would be most surprising for individuals is at least 30 percent of our customers do not describe themselves in any version of a runner. As we’re meeting with brands, yes, we can view your hyperlight, double carbon-plated racing shoes all day long, but we really need shoes like a Hoka Bondi or Clifton, that everyday shoe that is going to work across the spectrum. A lot of times we have to stop ourselves as Fleet Feet, and I would imagine our brands have to do this as well, is getting caught up in that pinnacle, chasing the very top and not everything down below. Innovation happens at the top and it trickles down, so I’m not advocating not going after the pinnacle, but it’s more realizing that what pays our bills at the end of the day is more of the meat at the bell curve and not the elitist from a racing or a running standpoint.”
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
