Foot Locker makes senior management changes on new organizational structure

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jul 24, 2020

Foot Locker announced on Thursday a new organizational structure, including several senior management changes, in an effort to foster greater agility at the company and to elevate the customer experience.

The New York-based specialty athletic retailer promoted Andy Gray, most recently chief merchandising officer for North America, to the newly created role of EVP and chief commercial officer. In this role, he will be responsible for the global oversight of all aspects of the customer experience, including product, brand, digital, customer connectivity, global market planning and store development. 

Likewise, Frank Bracken will become the new EVP and CEO of North America. Most recently, he served as the SVP and GM of Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker U.S., as well as the VP and GM of Foot Locker Canada. 

Finally, the company named Scott Martin as the new EVP and CEO of Asia Pacific, in addition to his responsibilities as the chief strategy & development officer.

In terms of its new organizational structure, Foot Locker said the changes will include improving its customer-facing functions globally; strengthening its community connectivity capability to create more localized and immersive customer experiences; product offerings and community activations; as well as a more streamlined operational and expense structure. 

"At a time when the world around us is moving and changing at a rapid pace, our new organizational structure positions us to operate more nimbly and develop even deeper connections at the heart of youth culture," said Richard Johnson, chairman and CEO, in a news statement.

”We remain focused on our mantra to build, back, Better while continuing to deliver on our four key strategic imperatives, and we are leveraging our consumer-led offense to further elevate the customer experience across all channels and around the globe. The steps we are taking today more strongly position Foot Locker for both the near- and long-term, and I am confident in our team's ability to continue driving our business forward in new and meaningful ways.”

Moreover, Foot Locker announced the retiring of several leadership team members. 

Lew Kimble, EVP and CEO of Asia Pacific will retire at the end of August, following a more than 40-year career at the company, while Jake Jacobs, EVP and CEO of North America, will retire effective at the end of August.

Like many retailer, Foot Locker has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 crisis and has since taken a number of actions to streamline its business.