Case

Foot Locker in the Shoe Mix

Foot Locker, Inc., is the world's number one retailer of athletic footwear and apparel. Headquartered in New York City, the company has over 44,000 employees and 3423 retail stores in 23 countries across North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand operating under such brand names as Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Footaction, Runners Point, and Sidestep. Foot Locker estimates that it controls about 18% of the U.S. $15 billion athletic footwear market. The company intends to increase its share of the worldwide market by adding additional stores and by growing its Internet and catalog business.

In recent years, Foot Locker officials have been rethinking the company's retail mix. Determining the shoe mix that will maximize profits is an important decision for Foot Locker. By the year 2002, in an effort to stock more lower-priced footwear, the company had reduced its inventory of sneakers priced at $120 or more by 50%.

QUESTIONS:

1. Suppose the data presented below represented the number of unit sales (million $) for athletic footwear in the years 2000 and 2016. Use techniques presented in this chapter to analyze these data and discuss the business implications for Foot Locker.

SEX Male Female U.S. West 29 43 U.S. South 48 20 Location V.S. East 52 61 U.S. North 28 25 Europe 78 32 Australia 47 29PRICE CATEGORY 2000 2016 Less than $30 115 126 $30-less than $40 38 40 $40-less than $50 37 35 $50-less than $60 30 27 $60-less than $70 22 20 $70-less than $85 21 20 $85-less than $100 11 11 $100 or more 17 18