Foot Locker, Inc. 1

Running Head: FOOT LOCKER, INC.

A Strategic Analysis of Foot Locker, Inc.

Richard A. Sweeney

A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Spring 2009

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Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University.

__________________________ Paul E. Young, Ph.D. Thesis Chair

__________________________ Edward M. Moore, Ph.D. Committee Member

__________________________ Kendrick W. Brunson, A.B.D. Committee Member

__________________________ Marilyn L. Gadomski, Ph.D. Assistant Honors …show more content…

38). By the late 1990s, the company’s

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balance sheet was healthier, and in 1999 the company agreed to change its name “to better reflect its global specialty retailing formats” (para. 44) to Venator Group, which meant sportsman in Latin. Through multiple investments in both merchandising and operations, by spring of 2000, Venator Group had claimed a 17 percent share of the $14 billion dollar US footwear industry, had “3.8 billion in annual sales”, and had developed “significant opportunities in the global market …” (Funding Universe, 2005, 47). As Venator Group moved into the new millennium, Roger Farah resigned his position as CEO and Matthew Serra, the chief operating officer (COO), took his place in 2001. Following this transition, Venator became increasingly focused on the athletic and apparel industry. Finally, in the fall of 2001, due to the company’s focus and success with its Foot Locker subsidiary, Venator Group was renamed Foot Locker, Inc. In the six years following 2001, Foot Locker, Inc. became a “lean, focused retail powerhouse”, and according to Serra, “Foot Locker [the parent company] has been very successful during this time frame in terms of growing sales and profits and our shareholders have been nicely rewarded” (para. 52). However, in the past few years, Foot Locker, Inc. has been struggling due in part to the changing retail landscape, and the more recent and continuing worldwide economic