Shoe Palace Rolls Out New ‘Localized’ Flagship Store Concept as It Continues to Grow Under JD Sports

Shoe Palace is getting a fresh look.

In an exclusive interview with FN, Shoe Palace president and chief executive officer John Mersho said that the company has revealed a new flagship store concept called “Shoe Palace Nine Three,” which pays tribute to the year it was founded, 1993.

According to Mersho, the first “Nine Three” location opened in downtown Los Angeles in February, followed by flagships in the Union Square area of San Francisco and the Little Tokyo neighborhood in L.A. last month.

Another L.A. location on Melrose Ave. and one in Miami Beach are scheduled to open by the end of 2025, the exec noted.

“With this new concept, we wanted to pay homage to the beginnings of Shoe Palace while also elevating our retail experience,” Mersho told FN. “So, each location will draw inspiration from the neighborhood it’s located in, while also bringing the unexpected to the consumer.”

The company’s first unit to receive the update was its store on the corner of E 9th and Main streets in downtown L.A. Mersho said that this location was inspired by the theater district in the area and took additional design cues from the roaring ‘20s. “We just want to make sure we are a reflection of the communities we’re in with this new design philosophy,” the CEO added.

Materials that run throughout each location include unique stone and marble, rich botanicals and opulent wall treatments. The CEO added that each store also has large unexpected digital LED elements that add to the visually dramatic design.

And while the Shoe Palace team is excited about the new look, don’t expect to see it at every store. “We want this concept to be unique and special,” Mersho said. “We don’t want Nine Three to be more than seven locations in total. We don’t want all of our stores to look the same.”

This new concept comes as Shoe Palace’s store footprint has grown significantly since JD Sports bought the retailer in 2020 for $325 million. At the time, Shoe Palace had 167 stores.

As of now, Mersho noted that there are 210 Shoe Palace stores around the country, with over 100 of those shops in the retailer’s home state of California. The CEO added that there will be around 270 locations by the end of 2025, an addition of about 60 stores this year.

“For me, what really gets me up every morning is making sure that the customer feels something when they walk into a Shoe Palace,” Mersho added. “I want to make sure that there’s that feeling that I even had when I was a kid. I used to walk into certain shoe stores and get so excited, you know? I want retail to go back to that.”