Puma and Foot Locker expand partnership to reach Gen Z, Gen Alpha

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 15, 2022

Puma and Foot Locker announced on Monday an expanded partnership, underscored by a focus on basketball and the demands of the growing next-generation market segment — Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Through the partnership, Puma and Foot Locker have planned a series of exclusive collections and product collaborations with highly influential ambassadors. 

“Puma’s long-standing relationship with Foot Locker has played an instrumental role in our ability to drive innovation and push the boundaries of sports, fashion, and technology globally,” said Bob Philion, president of Puma North America. 

“Our enhanced partnership not only provides us with additional opportunities for collaboration and growth, but it will enable us to provide even greater experiences and inclusion for our evolving customer base around the world.”

In particular, it will launch the first-ever Puma x Pokemon collaboration, which will turn, for the next six months, 400 Foot Locker, Champs Sports, and Kids Foot Locker stores across the U.S. and the Puma NYC Flagship store into Gyms and Poké Stops in Pokémon GO.

Likewise, it will launch Puma x Paw Patrol, a new collection of playful and sporty styles for kids; an upcoming athlete capsules with Mikey Williams; exclusive product programs with social media star and music artist Dixie D’Amelio and hip-hop artist Cordae; as well as Puma x CoComelon, a new collaboration coming out next Spring and inspired by CoComelon’s favorite characters. 

“We are very excited to build on our already strong partnership with Puma,” said Andrew Gray, executive vice president, Global Lockers and Champs Sports, Foot Locker, Inc. “By expanding and strengthening our collaboration with Puma, we continue to advance our strategy to diversify our product selection and bring new and innovative products to our consumers.”

Beyond partnerships and product collections, Puma and Foot Locker said that they will add hype drops and marketplace exclusivity through franchises, shared marketing partnership investments, and elevated in-store and online experiences. 

Lastly, it will invest in product creation and marketing to help support Foot Locker’s Leading Education & Economic Development (LEED) program and Puma’s Reform platform to drive social change.