Foot Locker has begun restructuring its executive team as the athletic retailer prepares to move its global headquarters from New York City to St. Petersburg in late 2025, part of a broader cost-cutting strategy that has already seen the company close dozens of stores worldwide.
The Fortune 500 company announced its relocation plans last August as part of CEO Mary Dillon’s “Lace Up Plan,” aimed at streamlining operations and improving collaboration among teams. According to recent company statements, Foot Locker will establish its new home at 570 Carillon, a Class A office building in the prestigious Carillon Business Park in St. Petersburg’s Gateway Business District.
“We’re proud to establish our new headquarters in St. Petersburg, a city that has warmly welcomed Foot Locker,” said Frank Bracken, President of Foot Locker, Inc. “As we accelerate our Lace Up Plan, we believe the metropolitan Tampa Bay area provides the perfect environment to align our internal teams, attract top talent, and connect with the local community.”
The company has already begun introducing St. Petersburg to its transferred executives. In November, St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch attended a reception welcoming Foot Locker employees to the city. “Many of the Foot Locker staff members will be relocating to St. Pete soon, so it was nice to get to know them as they get acquainted with our city,” noted the mayor’s office in a weekly update.
The relocation represents a significant economic development win for St. Petersburg, with Welch highlighting that the move will create over 150 new jobs in the area. Foot Locker will become the third Fortune 500 company based in St. Petersburg and the fourth in Pinellas County, joining St. Petersburg’s Jabil and Raymond James, and Largo’s TD Synnex.
The decision comes nearly three years after St. Petersburg first began courting the retailer. In 2021, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a $475,000 incentive package with the possibility of future property tax exemptions to attract what was then an unnamed Fortune 500 company, now confirmed to be Foot Locker. The original agreement required the company to bring 300 new jobs paying an average of $120,000 to qualify for the incentives. City officials indicate that an updated incentive package will go before the council next month.
While Foot Locker plans to maintain a limited presence in New York to stay connected to the sneaker culture and fashion industry that drives its business, the company views the Florida relocation as strategic. Dillon noted that the retailer already has a substantial employee presence in the St. Petersburg area, partly because Champs Sports’ former headquarters was located in the region.
The headquarters move is one component of Foot Locker’s broader restructuring efforts. The retailer recently announced plans to exit several international markets including South Korea, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by mid-2025, while simultaneously investing in store refreshes and new concepts within its remaining network.
Despite these changes, financial challenges remain. The company reported a widened net loss of $12 million in its most recent quarter, which analysts attribute to ongoing turnaround costs.
With its planned late 2025 move, Foot Locker becomes the latest in a series of major companies relocating from traditional Northeast business centers to Florida. For St. Petersburg, the addition of another Fortune 500 headquarters strengthens its position as an emerging business destination in the Tampa Bay region.