Report: Foot Locker to Close 110 Stores Across US

Shoe retailer Foot Locker will close 110 stores across the United States this year after closing 147 stores in 2017.

“We continue to prune the fleet of underproductive stores and open a few select, high-profile stores,” CFO Lauren Peters said in a call on Friday, Feb. 2, Business Insider reported.

The firm will open about 40 stores along with the closures. In 2017, the chain opened 94 new locations, bringing the store count to around 3,310 globally, Business Insider noted.

“The disruption that has characterized the retail industry recently is not going away,” Foot Locker’s CEO Richard Johnson said Friday. “Consumers want experiences, they want cool products, and they want it all—fast.”

The company also reported a net loss of about $40 million in the fourth quarter.

Last year, rival Payless ShoeSource filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it announced that it was closing about 400 locations, including 378 in the United States, according to reports at the time.

In February, J.C. Penney announced that it would close eight stores in 2018, resulting in the loss of about 480 jobs.

“We continually evaluate our store portfolio to ensure our locations offer the best expression of the JC Penney brand and can function as a seamless extension of our omnichannel experience,” a spokesman for J.C. Penney told CNBC last month. “During this review, the decision was made to close eight stores across the country.”

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