Foot Locker, Inc.

I ain't saying that he could like-

They gonna be in Foot Locker.

Yeah, I ain't saying that.

I'm just saying the people that li- like, collect shit from this nigga, that wanna go to his house and listen to his album with him, they gonna buy these shoes.

Thanks, Great Donuts.

I remember it was my birthday, the only person who said happy birthday was Foot Locker.

[laughs]

You know, that's the world you live in now.

Yeah.

Foot Locker's like, "Hey, how's it going? Good to see you the other week."

Yeah, "We remember your size" and...

Mm.

You hear that, everyone? Real clogs are custom.

If you're going to Foot Locker and picking up the latest clogs, no, no, no.

The C1s? No.

Now you're dipping into the WNBA, okay?

Because when you don't have to pay the retailers all this money, you're going to make more.

And so they tried to cut their retailers out, even though the retailers have been the lifeblood of the business for 50 years, and basically like Foot Locker and the malls and all these guys, and they're like, hey...

We're not giving you guys the good deals that we used to give.

We're going to try and get them ourselves and whatever.

So we would order through them.

But I mean, what is your recommendation? If somebody can't get to a specialty run store, if they only have like a Dix or a Foot Locker or something big like that, or if they don't even have that and they have to go online, what would you tell an athlete to do then?

Yeah, I mean, like, trying to find a place with, like, a decent, like, return policy, I think, is, like, pretty important, just so that you could, like, kind of test the shoes and, like, see if they're working.

But, yeah, like, I always recommend trying to try Stefan in person, but, like, if that's not an option, like, yeah, like, you could go, like, based on, like, different reviews, but, like, I know reviews are not always super great because just because someone else likes something doesn't mean it's going to like fit your foot very well.

I'm really excited about my guest today.

Please join me in welcoming Jennifer Baker, Director of Talent and Leadership Development at Foot Locker.

Welcome, Jennifer.

Hi, Leanne.

And at my core, I would say I am a learning and development practitioner.

So I have spent most of my career figuring out how we help people get better at what they do from frontline employees working in retail to hospitality, grocery, to stepping into that role for the first time, to people becoming leaders for the first time, to experienced leaders trying to navigate a workplace that really keeps moving underneath them.

So today I lead talent and leadership development at Foot Locker North America, and I'm also the founder of Gen and AI, a company focused on practical AI for learning, talent, and leadership.

I've had a really great opportunity being able to build learning programs, to lead teams, teach thousands of learners through my LinkedIn learning course.

And so the Jordan apparel line would drop and the shoes gone.

And by the time that had happened a few times over the season, you'd walk into a Foot Locker or JD or whoever, and it literally looked like Jordan apparel had thrown up on the floor.

It was just this mash of print and pattern.

And to be honest with you, the consumer in the US who was buying apparel from Jordan to wear as a uniform, was probably my age, it wasn't the kids.

And I was in a Foot Locker in Queens in the first few months and I was asking the store manager, there was a lay down from Nike with a tee and a basketball top and a short and the same from Jordan.

And I was saying, well, isn't it the same consumer? And the manager was like, no, no, the kid's buying the Nike gear and this dad or uncle is buying the Jordan.

So it was a...