- December 13, 2025
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Tucked away in a quiet corner of a crowded suburban mall outside Tampa, the retail chain Champs Sports is trying something different with a new concept store.
At the Brandon Exchange mall, it is one of two that the retailer, a subsidiary of Foot Looker, opened in early July as part of the parent company’s Power Up the Portfolio plan aimed at reimagining its stores. The other one is in Portland, Oregon.
While its long been said traditional retail, especially at malls, is a thing of the past the reality is retailers who learn to adopt to customer needs and shopping habits can still manage — and sometimes thrive.
The concept most often pointed to as the key to bridging the two is omnichannel, which incorporates technology with the traditional storefront to allow shoppers to buy what they want, where they want and how they want.
And that’s what Champs is attempting to do.
“We wanted to make sure the store had omnichannel connectivity,” says Tony Aversa, a senior vice president and general manager for Champs.
“So, you'll see we added digital screens to the storefront and to the entrance. And a lot of this information and a lot of this content ties back to our app that we rolled out two months ago.”
The features in the reimagined store concept are the result of conversations with customers about what they want out of the shopping experience.
The three-month “discovery process” revealed a desire for light, bright and inviting stores; ease of shopping with flexible fixtures; and connectivity. Additionally, 80% of customers say they prefer running as their primary exercise.
While talking to customers may seem routine, it is ever more important in an ever more demanding retail environment where consumers have more choices than ever. Which is why shoppers, working with employees with handheld devices, will be able to use technology on hand to search for products, work on proper sizing and place orders at the store.
One of the biggest lessons Champs learned, Aversa says on a tour of the Brandon store, is customers seek guidance. “Essentially, (they said) help us style, help us super category so we know what's cool, know the look.” (Super category is a retail term that means a grouping of related products.)
That led to a change in how Champs merchandises in the new concept store.
Before, all the shoes and other products were siloed by category. The new stores are designed with “integrated head-to-toe story telling” in mind. That simply means Nike and Michael Jordan footwear is with Nike and Michael Jordan apparel; New Balance shoes are in the same section as New Balance apparel.
“The connectivity is there,” says Aversa.
As for the look of the reimagined store concept, Champs describes it as immersive with “a bright, organized design” with “product storytelling (that) comes to life through elevated presentation walls and digital displays, while the light aesthetic emphasizes a contemporary vision of sport culture.”
The 4,100-square-foot store is easy to move around in, the technology is handy and facets of it can be reconfigured to improve the shopping experience.
At its center is a display of running shoes designed to make it less intimidating to shop, particularly for beginners.
“A good majority of our customers choose running and walking as their number one form of exercise,” says Aversa. “So, we said, how we can provide you all of your sports style needs and keep you active with what you do?”
That's tied to Champs Run Club, a nationwide program started in 2023 to promote running as an exercise and a community. The club is holding 40 more events this year. A recent one in Tampa drew 800 people.
Champs is planning to expand the reimagined store concept, but officials decline to disclose a timeline nor details.
As of Feb. 1, Champs had 383 stores nationally with $261 million in sales, according to its first quarter earnings report released in May. That’s down 2.2% from the same period a year ago.
The opening of the new reimagined store concept comes as Foot Locker is amid two major changes: moving its global headquarters from New York to St. Petersburg while it is in the process of being sold.
The retail giant signed a lease earlier this year for a 110,998-square-foot space in the Carillon Business Park. It will join Champs, founded in Bradenton, which moved to St. Petersburg in 2020.
Foot Locker is expected to make the move later this year.
On the sale, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced in May it was buying Foot Locker for $4.2 billion and will operate is as a standalone business.
In an interesting twist to the macro happenings at Foot Locker, the local Champs store is going to get a big boost from its new corporate overlord.
The reimagined Champs has been in the mall for several years (an exact opening date was not available). It sits on the east side, in a quieter corridor of the 1.1 million-square-foot traditional center that still, resisting to follow the trend, draws big crowds.
But the crowds are far thinner near the Champs as shoppers mainly congregate around the food court, popular chain stores and restaurants at the center and west end of Brandon Exchange.
One of the bigger reasons this corridor is so quiet is the shuttered 125,000-square-foot space that housed Sears until it closed in 2021.
That’s where Dick’s comes in.
The Pittsburgh retailer — and Champs' new owner — is in the process of building out a new Dick’s House of Sport store in that former space, promising to bring more customers.
Aversa, who is overseeing Champs stores nationally, says having a tenant in the space that’s been empty for years and having that space open to a parking lot “will be hugely beneficial."
As for the added competition?
He’s not worried. The Champs will focus on meeting customers expectations by offering them what they are looking for. “They want to really feel good about their experience. It really does set things apart.”
And, whether it’s online, on an app or in a store, isn’t meeting customer needs what retail is all about?
