Foot Locker announces HQ move to St. Petersburg

Three years after the St. Petersburg business community was rocked by the news that a Fortune 500 company was planning to relocate its global headquarters here, followed by a lengthy silence, it’s finally happening.

Foot Locker, the sports apparel giant, announced in Wednesday’s investor earnings report that it will move to St. Petersburg in late 2025. A location was not provided with the announcement, nor were other details.

“We are excited that it’s prime time for Pinellas County,” Dr. Cynthia Johnson, director of Pinellas County Economic Development, said in an email. “And that companies continue to choose to grow and expand in our community. We are thrilled that Foot Locker, Inc. selected St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, as their Ideal Business Climate.”

In a Wednesday morning webcast, Foot Locker President and CEO Mary Dillon told investors the company would maintain “a limited presence” in New York following the move to Florida. 

Foot Locker maintains a corporate office in St. Petersburg’s Carillon Office Park.

“What this really does is build on what already is a very meaningful commercial and executive team presence in the St. Pete market,” she elaborated. “We have a large center of gravity there already; that was originally, historically the location of Champs Sporting Goods [a Foot Locker subsidiary, headquartered in Manatee County], so we have a large concentration of folks there already. And we think it’s a great place to grow, and do business and continue to attract top talent.”

Details of the move, she added, are still being worked out. “But generally, it’s kind of a move to enhance the center of gravity we have already, while maintaining a presence in New York.”

In 2021, the City of St. Petersburg, in partnership with the and the St. Pete Economic Development Council (EDC) and the Pinellas County EDC, initiated a project to lure a Fortune 500 company to the city. Nicknamed Project Athena, the plan included financial incentives.

When the news of Foot Locker’s interest leaked prematurely, however, the company withdrew … for the moment.

“The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners previously approved an Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Resolution (ADVTE) to support the relocation of the company,” wrote Johnson. “Rhe Resolution approved the company as a qualified applicant for the ADVTE and allowed the company to continue their competitive process for their project without losing the ability to receive an ADVTE in the future.

“The competitive process for corporate relocations can sometimes take years and companies factor in many variables, including market conditions and timing.”