The British retailer riding the wave of America’s always-booming sneaker market

JD Sports Fashion currently has nearly 400 stores in North America bearing its name, with plans to reach 800 by opening new stores and continuing to convert stores from the Finish Line chain it bought a few years ago. The company also owns several other sports apparel chains in the U.S. under different banners. All told, JD’s various chains bring in nearly $6 billion a year stateside, making it one of the largest sports gear retailers in the country.

But that is just a small sliver of the opportunity that JD CEO Régis Schultz sees for the Manchester, England-based retailer. The $24 billion sneaker market now represents about 60% of the U.S. footwear market, double the share from a decade ago, as running shoes replace Oxfords in many offices. And Schultz sees no end to the running shoe boom.

“As soon as you start wearing sneakers, you don’t go back to formal shoes,” he told me in an on-stage interview at the National Retail Federation conference earlier this month in New York. 

Since the beginning of the decade, JD has also built its presence in different corners of the U.S. through acquisitions. In 2024, it bought Hibbitt, a large sports retailer focused on the South with stores in smaller retail markets. It has also bought a West Coast chain focused on the Hispanic market called Shoe Palace, and a more urban one called DLTR.

“We see a lot more potential in the U.S.” said Schultz. “We have invested in our stores and they have a lot of energy and theater.”

The group’s most recent results, published a week after the NRF interview, back this emphasis on the U.S. Over the holiday period of November and December, comparable sales in North America rose 1.5%, while falling in the U.K. and continental Europe. 

“JD’s brand awareness continues to grow in the US,” Schultz said in a statement published with the financial results, “and, building on this momentum, we have decided to increase our marketing initiatives in North America.”

JD seems to be thriving even as competitors struggle—which could be reason for optimism, but also caution. The travails in recent years of Foot Locker, during which it bled market share and closed hundreds of stores, have created opportunities for JD to step in. But Foot Locker, bought by Dick’s Sporting Goods last year, is now part of a much larger, extremely well-run retailer—and it’s a better-known brand in the US, so there are no guarantees that this market share will remain JD’s for the taking. 

To set itself up for success in this competitive market, Schultz has invested in stores, and given employees more training on buying and merchandising the products it sells. “You need to have a point of view,” he said, emphasizing that store buyers should think outside the box to become tastemakers. “Our big wake-up call was that buyers used to be very lazy.” 

Schultz recalled Nike CEO Elliott Hill calling him shortly after Hill returned to the company in 2024. “You know the consumer better than we know them,” he recalls Hill saying. “Please give us your insights.” Nike represents more than 40% of JD’s revenue.

For now, Schultz sees JD’s lane in the U.S. as running shoes from top brands such as Nike, Hoka, New Balance, Adidas and On Running, along with some apparel. 

“I’ve learned in my career that less is more,” Schultz said. “If you try to do too many things, you end up doing nothing.”