Dick's Sporting Goods says this fan favorite is here to stay

Sneakerheads have a lot to celebrate today. 

During its Q4 FY2026 earnings call on March 12, Dick’s Sporting Goods revealed that its Fast Break stores are here to stay. 

“This is the evolution of the 11-store pilot we discussed last quarter,” Dick’s Sporting Goods Executive Chairman Ed Stack told investors. “Based on the strength of the pilot results, we’ve already expanded Fast Break to an additional 10 stores… and we’re very pleased with the strong early performance.” 

“Now looking ahead, we’re excited to rapidly scale Fast Break by back-to-school 2026,” Stack continued.

Fast Break stores are a product of Dick’s 2025 acquisition of Foot Locker. The existing locations are stocked with footwear and limited apparel options, similar to the Foot Locker stores of yore, but in a more streamlined fashion.

“The improvement is coming from the basics: clearer storytelling, better presentation, and a more focused assortment where we removed roughly 30% of the styles on the shoe wall that were unproductive and eliminated the run-on sentence that we’ve been talking about that was not showing the customer what product was important,” Stack told investors.

Dick’s Sporting Goods acquisition of Foot Locker

In September 2025, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) completed its acquisition of Foot Locker and its portfolio of brands. 

“We are very enthusiastic about the future of Foot Locker,” Stack said in a statement at the time. 

Even with that enthusiasm, Stack acknowledged that it would take a good deal of work to return Foot Locker to profitability. 

One major impediment has been Foot Locker’s large amount of unproductive inventory. At the end of Q2 FY 2025, the company reported having $1.709 billion in merchandise inventory, up 3.7% year over year. 

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Post-acquisition, Dick’s has slowly been dealing with that excess of inventory, selling much of it at a discount through its Going, Gone! stores.

“Our first priority was to clean out the garage, starting with addressing unproductive inventory,” Stack told investors earlier this month. “The team moved quickly and decisively to get this done, and we’re pleased to report that the inventory cleanup is now essentially complete.” 

“We were able to recover a higher cash amount by putting it through the DICK’S value chain than if we sent that out through a jobber,” he continued. “We’re really well-positioned. This inventory at Foot Locker is probably cleaner than it has ever been. That should bode well for our margins and our sales going forward.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods will make its Fast Break stores a permanent part of its lineup.

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Dick’s continues to expand its fleet 

New Fast Break stores aren’t the only Dick’s locations set to open this year. 

In 2026, the company said it has plans to open 14 new House of Sport and 22 Fieldhouse locations. These experience-oriented stores, replete with amenities like turf fields and rock walls, have been wildly successful for the retailer.

“House of Sport and DICK’S Field House remain two of our most powerful and long-term growth drivers, and we will continue expanding these formats with discipline,” Chief Financial Officer Navdeep Gupta told investors. 

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The expansion plans don’t end there. Approximately 15 Golf Galaxy Performance Center locations will open in the calendar year, as well as at least one new distribution center.

Interestingly, Dick’s executives say they have plans to open some of these locations in malls. While other retailers such as Bath & Body Works are consistently closing their in-mall locations thanks to declining foot traffic, the sporting goods company is taking another route.

The mall locations may not be a bad bet. According to data from Placer.ai, indoor malls have begun to regain momentum, with visits increasing by 5% in February 2026 year over year. Outlet malls are doing even better, with foot traffic increasing by 7.3% in the same time period.

The “momentum may reflect a broader shift in how outlet centers are positioning themselves,” Placer.ai’s report said. “Rather than serving solely as transactional shopping destinations, some are expanding their food and experiential offerings to encourage longer, more social visits.”

Perhaps the new Fast Break stores will be able to capitalize on this shift, turning around Foot Locker’s fortunes once and for all. 

Foot Locker outlook

During March’s earnings call, executives made three significant predictions regarding Foot Locker’s future:

In 2026, Dick’s Sporting Goods expects Foot Locker to deliver growth and comp sales of between 1% and 3%.Foot Locker is expected to generate an operating income of between $100 million and $150 million.Back-to-school 2026 is expected to be the sales and profitability inflection point for Foot Locker.

Related: Why Dick’s Sporting Goods has thrived while rivals fail

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