Another exit: Foot Locker to relocate headquarters from New York to Florida

Foot Locker is relocating its headquarters to Florida from New York. 

The footwear retailer said Wednesday the city of St. Petersburg will become its new corporate headquarters come late 2025. 

Foot Locker said it was seeking to "further build on the Company’s meaningful presence in St. Petersburg and to enable increased collaboration among teams across banners and functions, while also reducing costs."

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
FL	FOOT LOCKER INC.	23.11	+0.68	+3.03%

The retailer already has a "very meaningful commercial and executive team presence" in St. Petersburg, according to CEO Mary Dillon. The company won’t be requiring relocation for workers, she told analysts and investors.

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"Historically, that was originally the headquarters of Champs Sporting Goods," Dillon also told analysts and investors. "We have a large concentration of folks there already, and we think it’s a great place for us to continue to grow and do business and continue to attract top talent."

Meanwhile, Foot Locker’s corporate presence in New York City will be "limited" in the future.

Dillon said the HQ relocation to the Sunshine State was "going to continue to give us better opportunities, both for further collaboration across the business and there’s some financial benefits over time as well."

Foot Locker linked the corporate move to an effort to "further support strategic progress" of its "Lace Up Plan."

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The "Lace Up Plan," which kicked off in March, includes initiatives like new store formats, moving away from mall stores, revamping its loyalty program and leaning more into digital to improve Foot Locker’s growth. 

The footwear retailer has the launch of a Global Technology Services Hub in Dallas slated for next month in a move separate from the headquarters relocation. Dillon said the site will "be a key enabler of our technology infrastructure modernization under Lace Up."

Foot Locker’s planned move from New York to Florida will make it the latest company to move its headquarters out of the Empire State.

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Others include Icahn Capital Management in 2020 and ARK Investment Management in 2021. 

The footwear retailer's market capitalization hovered around $2.79 billion on Wednesday afternoon after releasing its second-quarter results earlier in the day.