{"id":16113,"date":"2026-01-27T08:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=16113"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:29:20","slug":"the-british-retailer-riding-the-wave-of-americas-always-booming-sneaker-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=16113","title":{"rendered":"The British retailer riding the wave of America\u2019s always-booming sneaker market"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The U.S. sneaker market continues to boom and one British retailer wants a much bigger piece of that pie.<\/p>\n

JD Sports Fashion currently has nearly 400 stores in North America bearing its name, with plans to reach 800 by opening new stores and continuing to convert stores from the Finish Line chain it bought a few years ago. The company also owns several other sports apparel chains in the U.S. under different banners. All told, JD\u2019s various chains bring in nearly $6 billion a year stateside, making it one of the largest sports gear retailers in the country.<\/p>\n

But that is just a small sliver of the opportunity that JD CEO R\u00e9gis Schultz sees for the Manchester, England-based retailer. The $24 billion sneaker market now represents about 60% of the U.S. footwear market, double the share from a decade ago, as running shoes replace Oxfords in many offices. And Schultz sees no end to the running shoe boom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as you start wearing sneakers, you don\u2019t go back to formal shoes,\u201d he told me in an on-stage interview at the National Retail Federation conference earlier this month in New York. <\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the decade, JD has also built its presence in different corners of the U.S. through acquisitions. In 2024, it bought Hibbitt, a large sports retailer focused on the South with stores in smaller retail markets. It has also bought a West Coast chain focused on the Hispanic market called Shoe Palace, and a more urban one called DLTR.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a lot more potential in the U.S.\u201d said Schultz. \u201cWe have invested in our stores and they have a lot of energy and theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s most recent results, published a week after the NRF interview, back this emphasis on the U.S. Over the holiday period of November and December, comparable sales in North America rose 1.5%, while falling in the U.K. and continental Europe. <\/p>\n

\u201cJD\u2019s brand awareness continues to grow in the US,\u201d Schultz said in a statement published with the financial results, \u201cand, building on this momentum, we have decided to increase our marketing initiatives in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n

JD seems to be thriving even as competitors struggle\u2014which could be reason for optimism, but also caution. The travails in recent years of Foot Locker, during which it bled market share and closed hundreds of stores, have created opportunities for JD to step in. But Foot Locker, bought by Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods last year, is now part of a much larger, extremely well-run retailer\u2014and it\u2019s a better-known brand in the US, so there are no guarantees that this market share will remain JD\u2019s for the taking. <\/p>\n

To set itself up for success in this competitive market, Schultz has invested in stores, and given employees more training on buying and merchandising the products it sells. \u201cYou need to have a point of view,\u201d he said, emphasizing that store buyers should think outside the box to become tastemakers. \u201cOur big wake-up call was that buyers used to be very lazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schultz recalled Nike CEO Elliott Hill calling him shortly after Hill returned to the company in 2024. \u201cYou know the consumer better than we know them,\u201d he recalls Hill saying. \u201cPlease give us your insights.\u201d Nike represents more than 40% of JD\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n

For now, Schultz sees JD\u2019s lane in the U.S. as running shoes from top brands such as Nike, Hoka, New Balance, Adidas and On Running, along with some apparel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned in my career that less is more,” Schultz said. “If you try to do too many things, you end up doing nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com<\/p>\n

#British #retailer #riding #wave #Americas #alwaysbooming #sneaker #market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. sneaker market contin… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[10642,2046,10368,2704,10640,33,351,9705,2982,10643,10641,1546],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}