DOWNEY — After more than 20 years at Stonewood Center, Foot Locker has picked up and moved across the street, establishing its own footprint in Downey while also taking the opportunity to expand.

Ken Side, West Coast Vice President of Foot Locker, said that Foot Locker was formerly “a part of the Stonewood mall, not a part of Downey.”

“What we’ve done, this is what we call a community store,” said Side. “As a national brand, we have been primarily mall-based. As we look at the cities…the first thing we looked at in LA, we said, ‘We’re not where the people live.’ We’re making them drive to malls.”

According to Side, moving from the mall into its own space allows Foot Locker greater opportunity to offer more to the community, both in product and local involvement.

In addition to the usual shoes and other street wear products, the store includes a “homegrown section,” which features the brands of local creators.

“One of the things we do when we first come in… we set up a focus group. We reached out to the mayor, Claudia [Frometa], and some of her folks, and we said ‘Hey, we want to meet with you.’ We reached out to some local entrepreneurs, restaurants, businesses, and some local artists, musicians. We said, ‘Before we come here, what should we do? We want you to tell us flavor.’”

“The mural up top was done by a local artist [Daniel Antelo]. All these brands are local; some are from Downey, some are from Lakewood, but they’re local.”

Side added that the store hires locally as well.

“I quote that we’re about 80% local; I think we’re way above that here,” said Side.

Side says that the store is for “the families of Downey, not the sneaker heads of Downey.”

“We can make any sneaker head feel good; I could bring in enough heat, they could feel good,” said Side. “In order for a family to come in and feel like they got the shoes they wanted, the sweatshirts they wanted, they were treated right, like a family, and they’re going to come back, I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Foot Locker is located at 9060 Firestone Blvd.

Foot Locker expands footprint in Downey with new store