Just for Feet

**Just For Feet Inc.** is an athletic shoe and sportswear retail store chain headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama which became one of the largest and fastest-growing athletic stores in the United States. In 2000, Footstar acquired Just For Feet.

## History

Just for Feet Inc. began with a single store at Century Plaza in Birmingham, Alabama in 1977. Just For Feet operated over 140 superstores in 25 U.S. states and Puerto Rico by 1999. Most of the Just For Feet stores were located on outparcels adjoining major malls in cities, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.

### Just For Feet Superstore

The first Just For Feet superstore opened adjacent to the Riverchase Galleria in 1987. Several features helped to distinguish Just for Feet from its competitors, including:

* A small basketball court, either inside the store or in a fenced courtyard outside.
* A large bank of video monitors located near the front of the store, where customers could watch live sporting events
* Loud rock and dance music pumped into the store
* A repeat customer program which enabled customers to receive a free pair of shoes after the purchase of 12 pairs
* An in-store fast-food snack bar featuring Chicago-style hot dogs and popcorn
* A complete selection of footwear styles from virtually every major athletic shoe supplier, as well as casual footwear from companies such as Rockport, Keds, Tretorn and Timberland
* A large selection of clearance footwear, called the "Combat Zone" and located at the front of the store, where value-oriented customers could purchase discontinued styles of shoes, often as low as $9.99 or $19.99
* Vendor concept shops, where customers could examine the complete footwear line of vendors such as Nike, Reebok, New Balance, Converse and Adidas. In many cases, the concept shops also featured active wear such as shorts, T-shirts ,and warm-up suits from those vendors
* "Moonlight Madness" sales, usually conducted around Christmas, where the store would be open extended hours (usually open until 4:00 a.m.) and offer customers outstanding bargains
* In-store appearances by professional athletes, including Michael Jordan, Björn Borg, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Herschel Walker and Shaquille O'Neal

### Growth in the 90s

In 1992 a store was opened at The Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in 1994, other company-owned stores were opened near Nashville, Tennessee, and in Kansas City, Missouri. Franchises were granted for stores that opened in San Antonio, Texas, suburban Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio; the Texas and Georgia stores subsequently became company-owned locations. By the end of 1996, Just For Feet operated superstores in eleven states.

In 1997, Just For Feet bought Florida-based *Athletic Attic* and Michigan-based *Imperial Sports*, enabling the company to enter numerous markets (and several states) where it previously had no presence. The 1998 acquisition of New Jersey-based *Sneaker Stadium*, and the subsequent conversion of those stores to the Just For Feet nameplate, enabled the company to expand into the metropolitan areas of Boston, Norfolk, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. These acquisitions enabled the company to become the second largest athletic footwear retailer near the end of the 20th century.[1] One of the slogans the store used to position itself as "The World's Largest Athletic Shoe Store". The store was also famous for their promotion of buying any 12 pair of shoes, and then getting one pair for free, in the process, hence the other slogan, "Where Your 13th Pair is Free!"

### Marketing

In 1999, Just For Feet broadcast a commercial during Super Bowl XXXIII, produced by the agency Saatchi & Saatchi. In the spot, a group of Caucasian men in a humvee are seen tracking down a barefoot Kenyan runner, sedating him with drug-laced water, and forcing Nike shoes on his feet while he was unconscious. When he woke up, the runner rejected the shoes and attempted to shake them off whilst running away.

The ad was widely-criticized by the media and advertising industry for its derogatory content; Stuart Elliot, advertising columnist for *The New York Times*, called it "appallingly insensitive", while *Advertising Age* columnist Bob Garfield described the commercial as being "neo-colonialist", "culturally imperialist", and "probably racist". Just For Feet later sued Saatchi & Saatchi for malpractice over the spot, seeking $10 million in damages. Just For Feet alleged that they had relied on the expertise of the agency against their initial negative reactions to the spot, which ran contrary to the company's values and damaged its reputation. However, in the midst of Just For Feet's bankruptcy, the lawsuit was dropped.

### Bankruptcy & Acquisition

In November 1999, Just For Feet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and in February 2000, the company was forced into Chapter 7. Footstar, Inc., at that time the parent company of Footaction USA, purchased the Just For Feet name and the leases of over all of its stores in February 2000. Just for feet got back on its feet after the acquisition from Footstar with the expansion of more stores starting in 2002.