The funds from Foot Locker will also help Rockets of Awesome open its first standalone store before the back-to-school shopping season this year, she added. “The store will bring our brand identity to life and reflect the same values we’ve always had, which is to make shopping fun and easy for both parents and kids.”
In inking deals like the one with Goat and now Rockets of Awesome, Foot Locker is looking to stay top of mind as a destination of choice with younger consumers. Younger brands like Carbon38 — which sells super chic sports bras and leggings that could retail for upwards of $200 — are popular with millennials on social media. Those digital relationships with customers are something Foot Locker — as a massive bricks-and-mortar retailer — has a harder time building on its own.
With Rockets of Awesome, Foot Locker will “collaborate on brand development, product collections and go-to-market plans to help realize additional growth opportunities for both companies,” Johnson said.
In many ways, Foot Locker is taking a similar approach to Walmart, which has been outright acquiring online brands including Art.com, Jet.com and clothing retailers Bonobos and Modcloth. These acquisitions give Walmart access to customer data, but more importantly teams of young and hungry retail entrepreneurs. That’s how it got Jet.com founder Marc Lore, who now lead’s Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business.
Foot Locker must find ways to stay relevant as many brands that typically sell within its stores — like Nike and Adidas — are pivoting their focus to selling directly to consumers. That doesn’t mean those brands are pulling out of Foot Locker stores entirely, but Foot Locker must now look for other channels of growth.
Foot Locker shares are up roughly 25 percent over the past 12 months, as analysts cite strong inventory management and e-commerce initiatives as bright spots for the business. Just earlier this month, Foot Locker said it planned to allocate more capital to remodeling stores and building out its supply chain in 2019.
Rockets of Awesome declined to comment on its valuation following its Series C round.
Foot Locker’s quarterly earnings are due out this Friday.
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