Client
Foot Locker
Date
2022 onwards
Location
Europe
Services
Planning, Design, Manufacture, Installation
Foot Lockers History
Foot Locker has become one of the most recognisable and established athletic footwear and apparel retailers since their inception in 1970, having grown to a global leader in their industry and operating over 2500 stores across the world. In the UK alone there are 59 locations, in all four countries and within 54 cities, and when looking at Europe as a whole, there are over 600 stores across the continent.
The business has continued to grow and expand in key markets across the globe, with 2021 being their strongest year financially ever, after the difficult year prior which saw most businesses (especially retailers such as Foot Locker) take a substantial hit to sales and profits. The execution of their key objectives, which were “Elevating the customer experience”, “Invest for long-term growth”, “Drive Productivity”, and “Leverage the power of the people” were one of the reasons for their record setting year.
Their logo and brand image has remained fairly consistent since their inception, with only 2 rebrands carried out over the 50 years of operation. The latest version of their branding came in 2020, which can be described as more of a modernising update to a classic rather than a complete revolution – which is often desirable to maintain a brands consistency over the span of decades.
A new partnership
During 2022, Foot Locker Europe had a need for a new signage contractor to assist them with their retail. Our new business development team worked quickly with Foot Locker to understand more about the business and their signage requirements, as well as get to know more about their plans as a business across their UK and Europe locations.
Blaze Signs subsequently came on board with Foot Locker as signage supplier, and this is where the real hard work began. Our planning and projects team needed to move at pace to align our practices and processes, with the capabilities we offer in-house to ensure that the customer receives the exact service they’re looking for.
Our design and technical studio love problem solving and were delighted as the Foot Locker project is right up their alley. For the customer, it is important that the switch from one supplier to another is seamless and unnoticeable to their own customers, if this level of quality is not achieved, the brand could be damaged, and the attitude of the retail customer may change. Our draughtspeople quickly produced the technical drawings required, in terms of illumination technique and quality, specification and material use and fixing methods.
Not only were Blaze Signs able to design Foot Lockers signage in a way that did not detract from their existing estate, but we were able to get it turned around quickly, to ensure their brand and marketing initiatives and timelines were not disrupted.
International Business Signage Solutions
The vast majority of our business is based in the UK, whether that’s England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, with some of our biggest customers being purely based in the UK. This however does not mean we are limited to the UK, in fact, we have delivered projects and produced signage for clients in countries across the world since our inception in 1981.
We worked with Shurgard across multiple countries in Europe, bringing their brand to a standard of quality that only the Blaze Team could achieve. Signage works in Sweden, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, and Belgium, saw us complete an international signage rollout!
Foot Locker boasts over 600 stores across Europe, and we were excited to work with them to service many of these locations. With design, production and delivery to be handled by the Blaze Team, the stage was set for an incredible international project.
It truly is something special to see Blaze Sign’s products installed across many different cities, countries, and cultures in Europe. There is a vast range of different types of cities, architecture and vibe everywhere, whether it’s in the city of Zurich, Vienna – voted as the world’s most liveable city – or the beautiful Island of Sardinia. Each new location we work on with Foot Locker gives us a new perspective on how signage can look in relation to its surrounding architecture, and of course, each one looks as good as the last.
We are proud to say that as of June 2023, we have worked on Foot Locker retail locations in 10 countries and within them over 40 cities, and this number will continue to grow with time as our partnership with Foot Locker blossoms.
All in all, here is a run down of the European countries where our Foot Locker signage now resides:
- United Kingdom
- Austria
- Spain
- France
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- Czech Republic
From design to install
One of the stand out projects that we were privileged enough to work on was actually close to home, at the Stratford Westfield Shopping Centre, situated only an hour and a half drive from our headquarters in Broadstairs.
Back in October of 2022, Foot Locker opened their brand-new store in the large shopping centre, which now acts as one of their flagship stores in the UK and the 10,000 sq/m retail space certainly lives up to the name. The organisation described their vision as an “elevated retail experience, designed to inspire youth culture and build communities”.
Their new store signage needed to reflect their vision and we were put to task to bring it to life, while fitting in with not only the rest of the store design, but also complying with the shopping centres strict requirements and guidelines when it comes to their tenants’ store facades. The Blaze Team prides themselves in their ability to provide a full business signage solution, from planning, design, production and manufacture, and this offer was put to the test on this project.
The heavily glazed frontage of the two-storied space presented challenges for our technical designers to overcome, namely, how to safely fix these large, heavy, illuminated signs in a way that looked special. Using two different mounting techniques for the two entrances, one mounted with rails to the supporting columns of the building, and the other mounted directly to the upper glazing with holes drilled through the glass, we were able to achieve a gravity-defying effect. The mounting techniques coupled with the internal illumination completed the look.
Throughout the rest of the store we also designed, manufactured, and installed various smaller internal signs too, including the hanging directionals and windows vinyls. The completed site is certainly one that can and should be referred to as “flagship”.
Summary
Foot Lockers pedigree in their industry make them an incredibly exciting client to work with. Their reach across Europe and the opportunities that gives us to expand our international portfolio is also highly appreciated. They are King’s of the athletic footwear and apparel game, and we’re proud to name them as one of our customers.
Working with Foot Locker has pushed each of the functions of our business to new levels, ensuring we continue to innovate the way in which we work, and the pace at which we can do it. The quick turnaround on the technical drawings and production saw us ensure the important business objectives of the customer were not disrupted by changes in their signage supplier market, and our ability to produce signs at scale for an international estate as well as complete a full-on end-to-end project for their new flagship store in Stratford allowed the Blaze Team to showcase their versatility and flexibility in working.
We’re extremely excited to see where we go next with this customer!
