Just For Feet
Encyclopedia
Just For Feet Inc. was an athletic shoe and sportswear retailer headquartered in Birmingham
, Alabama
which became one of the largest and fastest growing athletic stores in the United States. In 2000 Footstar
acquired Just For Feet. It closed its last store in 2004.
in Birmingham
, Alabama
with the original name Two Feet Ahead in 1977. Just For Feet operated over 140 superstores in 25 U.S. state
s and Puerto Rico
by 1999. Most of the Just For Feet stores were located on outparcels adjoining major malls in cities, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.
in 1987. Several features helped to distinguish Just for Feet from its competitors, including:
in Las Vegas, Nevada
. Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in 1994, other company-owned stores were opened near Nashville, Tennessee
and in Kansas City, Missouri
. Franchises were granted for stores that opened in San Antonio, Texas
, suburban Atlanta, Georgia
and Columbus, Ohio
; the Texas and Georgia stores subsequently became company-owned locations. By the end of 1996, Just For Feet operated superstores in eleven states.
In 1997, Just For Feet bought Florida-based Athletic Attic and Michigan-based Imperial Sports, enabling the company to enter numerous markets (and several states) where it previously had no presence. The 1998 acquisition of New Jersey-based Sneaker Stadium, and the subsequent conversion of those stores to the Just For Feet nameplate, enabled the company to expand into the metropolitan areas of Boston, Norfolk
, New York, Philadelphia
and Washington, D.C.
. These acquisitions enabled the company to become the second largest athletic footwear retailer near the end of the 20th century. One of the slogans the store used to position itself was “The World’s Largest Athletic Shoe Store”. The store was also famous for their promotion of buying any 12 pair of shoes, and then getting one pair for free, in the process, hence the other slogan, "Where Your 13th Pair is Free!" Employees would frequently tell customers "Don't steal anything" and get on the intercom to call out shoplifters. This did not detract from the shoplifting.
in which a Humvee of white men tracks a Kenyan runner. The men offer the runner a cup of water spiked with a sedative; the runner collapses, and the men force a pair of Nike
sneakers onto his feet. The runner wakes up, notices that he now has sneakers on his feet, screams, and runs away, attempting to shake the shoes off.
The ad immediately generated a backlash; Stuart Elliot, advertising columnist for the New York Times, called it "appallingly insensitive" while others accused it of racism. Just For Feet later sued its ad agency, Saatchi and Saatchi, alleging that they had relied on the expertise of the advertising agency against their initial negative reactions to the spot. Just For Feet later dropped the lawsuit.
, at that time the parent company of Footaction USA, purchased the Just For Feet name and the leases of over 70 of its stores in February 2000.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E4D71031F934A25751C0A9669C8B63. Those stores that remained opened continued to do business under the Just For Feet name until Footstar itself filed for Chapter 7 protection in 2003. By 2004, the last of the Just For Feet stores closed.
According to the Wall Street Journal (4/23/07): 'Just for Feet collapsed in 1999 amid an accounting fraud. Three former executives pleaded guilty to crimes related to a scheme to overstate earnings by $8 million between 1996 and 1998. The bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to recover money for the company's creditors. The estate of Harold Ruttenberg, Just for Feet's founder and former chief executive, agreed in August 2006 to pay $15 million along with son Don-Allen Ruttenberg to settle the trustee lawsuit. Unfortunately for the estate, six months later, a Delaware Court in the case of North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation Inc. against three directors of the Delaware corporation, Clearwire Holdings Inc., ruled that creditors and trustees of Delaware corporations that are insolvent or in the so-called "zone of insolvency", like Just for Feet, Inc. was, have no right to assert direct claims for breach of fiduciary duty against its directors.
The elder Mr. Ruttenberg died in 2005 at 63. His son pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was sentenced to a 20-month prison term. Just for Feet's auditor, Deloitte & Touche agreed to pay $24 million, and in April 2007 five former outside directors agreed to pay $41.5 million - one of only 13 cases in the past 25 years where outside directors of public companies have made out-of-pocket payments and one of the largest ever settlements. (Enron Corporation's 10 directors paid only $13 million). In all the trustees recovered roughly $80 million for the company's creditors.
Today, the company's former corporate headquarters is occupied by Jack Henry & Associates
.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
which became one of the largest and fastest growing athletic stores in the United States. In 2000 Footstar
Footstar
Footstar is a shoe retailer based in Mahwah, New Jersey. , it principally conducts business through its Meldisco Segment which sells and operates family footwear stores principally within Kmart stores as part of Footstar's Shoemart unit...
acquired Just For Feet. It closed its last store in 2004.
History
Just for Feet Inc. began with a single store at Century PlazaCentury Plaza
Century Plaza was an enclosed shopping mall in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Opened in 1975, the mall originally included four anchor stores and more than one hundred tenants, but lost three of those anchors in the mid-2000s. In May 2009, the mall was completely closed as Sears and the rest of the...
in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
with the original name Two Feet Ahead in 1977. Just For Feet operated over 140 superstores in 25 U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
by 1999. Most of the Just For Feet stores were located on outparcels adjoining major malls in cities, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.
Just For Feet Superstore
The first Just For Feet superstore opened adjacent to the Riverchase GalleriaRiverchase Galleria
Riverchase Galleria, locally known as The Galleria, is a large super–regional shopping mall in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover, Alabama. It is the 25th largest shopping mall in the United States...
in 1987. Several features helped to distinguish Just for Feet from its competitors, including:
- A small basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court, either inside the store or in a fenced courtyard outside. - A large bank of video monitors located near the front of the store, where customers could watch live sporting events
- Loud rock and dance music pumped into the store
- A repeat customer program which enabled customers to receive a free pair of shoes after the purchase of 12 pairs
- An in-store fast-food snack bar featuring Chicago-style hot dogs and popcorn
- A complete selection of footwear styles from virtually every major athletic shoe supplier, as well as casual footwear from companies such as RockportRockport-Locations:Canada* Rockport, New Brunswick* Rockport, OntarioUnited States* Rockport, Arkansas* Rockport, California*Rockport, Illinois* Rockport, Indiana* Rockport, Kentucky*Rockport, Maine*Rockport, Massachusetts...
, KedsKedsKeds is a brand of canvas shoe with rubber soles, introduced in 1916 by U.S. Rubber , later acquired by Stride Rite, and currently owned by Collective Brands....
, Tretorn and TimberlandTimberlandTimberland or variants thereof may refer to:*Timberland, Lincolnshire, a village in Lincolnshire, England*The Timberland Company, manufacturer of outdoor wear*Timberland , a German board game*Timberland Regional Library, a public library system... - A large selection of clearance footwear, called the "Combat Zone" and located at the front of the store, where value-oriented customers could purchase discontinued styles of shoes, often as low as $9.99 or $19.99
- Vendor concept shops, where customers could examine the complete footwear line of vendors such as NikeNike, Inc.Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, ReebokReebokReebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, New BalanceNew BalanceNew Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...
, Converse and AdidasAdidasAdidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
. In many cases, the concept shops also featured active wear such as shorts, t-shirts and warm-up suits from those vendors - "Moonlight Madness" sales, usually conducted around Christmas, where the store would be open extended hours (usually open until 4:00 a.m.) and offer customers outstanding bargains
- In-store appearances by professional athletes, including Michael JordanMichael JordanMichael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Björn BorgBjörn BorgBjörn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
, Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, Herschel WalkerHerschel WalkerHerschel Junior Walker is an American mixed martial artist and a former American football player. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and earned the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He began his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League...
and Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
Growth in the 1990s
In 1992 a store was opened at The Forum Shops at CaesarsThe Forum Shops at Caesars
The Forum Shops at Caesars is a luxury mall connected to Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. Built as an extension wing of the main hotel, the mallnow fronts on The Strip...
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in 1994, other company-owned stores were opened near Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Franchises were granted for stores that opened in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, suburban Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; the Texas and Georgia stores subsequently became company-owned locations. By the end of 1996, Just For Feet operated superstores in eleven states.
In 1997, Just For Feet bought Florida-based Athletic Attic and Michigan-based Imperial Sports, enabling the company to enter numerous markets (and several states) where it previously had no presence. The 1998 acquisition of New Jersey-based Sneaker Stadium, and the subsequent conversion of those stores to the Just For Feet nameplate, enabled the company to expand into the metropolitan areas of Boston, Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, New York, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. These acquisitions enabled the company to become the second largest athletic footwear retailer near the end of the 20th century. One of the slogans the store used to position itself was “The World’s Largest Athletic Shoe Store”. The store was also famous for their promotion of buying any 12 pair of shoes, and then getting one pair for free, in the process, hence the other slogan, "Where Your 13th Pair is Free!" Employees would frequently tell customers "Don't steal anything" and get on the intercom to call out shoplifters. This did not detract from the shoplifting.
Super Bowl Ad Controversy
Just For Feet ran an ad during the 1999 Super Bowl XXXIIISuper Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion, following the 1998 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football...
in which a Humvee of white men tracks a Kenyan runner. The men offer the runner a cup of water spiked with a sedative; the runner collapses, and the men force a pair of Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
sneakers onto his feet. The runner wakes up, notices that he now has sneakers on his feet, screams, and runs away, attempting to shake the shoes off.
The ad immediately generated a backlash; Stuart Elliot, advertising columnist for the New York Times, called it "appallingly insensitive" while others accused it of racism. Just For Feet later sued its ad agency, Saatchi and Saatchi, alleging that they had relied on the expertise of the advertising agency against their initial negative reactions to the spot. Just For Feet later dropped the lawsuit.
Bankruptcy and acquisition
In November 1999, Just For Feet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and in February 2000, the company was forced into Chapter 7. Footstar, Inc.Footstar
Footstar is a shoe retailer based in Mahwah, New Jersey. , it principally conducts business through its Meldisco Segment which sells and operates family footwear stores principally within Kmart stores as part of Footstar's Shoemart unit...
, at that time the parent company of Footaction USA, purchased the Just For Feet name and the leases of over 70 of its stores in February 2000.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E4D71031F934A25751C0A9669C8B63. Those stores that remained opened continued to do business under the Just For Feet name until Footstar itself filed for Chapter 7 protection in 2003. By 2004, the last of the Just For Feet stores closed.
According to the Wall Street Journal (4/23/07): 'Just for Feet collapsed in 1999 amid an accounting fraud. Three former executives pleaded guilty to crimes related to a scheme to overstate earnings by $8 million between 1996 and 1998. The bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to recover money for the company's creditors. The estate of Harold Ruttenberg, Just for Feet's founder and former chief executive, agreed in August 2006 to pay $15 million along with son Don-Allen Ruttenberg to settle the trustee lawsuit. Unfortunately for the estate, six months later, a Delaware Court in the case of North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation Inc. against three directors of the Delaware corporation, Clearwire Holdings Inc., ruled that creditors and trustees of Delaware corporations that are insolvent or in the so-called "zone of insolvency", like Just for Feet, Inc. was, have no right to assert direct claims for breach of fiduciary duty against its directors.
The elder Mr. Ruttenberg died in 2005 at 63. His son pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was sentenced to a 20-month prison term. Just for Feet's auditor, Deloitte & Touche agreed to pay $24 million, and in April 2007 five former outside directors agreed to pay $41.5 million - one of only 13 cases in the past 25 years where outside directors of public companies have made out-of-pocket payments and one of the largest ever settlements. (Enron Corporation's 10 directors paid only $13 million). In all the trustees recovered roughly $80 million for the company's creditors.
Today, the company's former corporate headquarters is occupied by Jack Henry & Associates
Jack Henry & Associates
Jack Henry & Associates an S&P 400 company, supports more than 11,200 financial institutions with core processing solutions as well as the highly specialized products and services that financial services organizations of all asset sizes and diverse businesses outside the financial industry use to...
.