Foot Locker Backs Rockets Of Awesome With $12.5M Investment

In the latest of a series of investments, Foot Locker backed children’s clothing brand Rockets of Awesome with $12.5 million in funding. The brand will start selling on the retailer’s children’s website and bring mini-stores to Kids Foot Locker venues, CNBC reported.

“The investment represents a modern way of thinking in an increasingly competitive climate,” Rockets of Awesome CEO Rachel Blumenthal said, according to the outlet. “They want to learn from us just as much as we want to learn from them, and that exchange of expertise will give us both an advantage as we continue to shape our businesses.”

In addition, the Foot Locker funding will aid the children’s brand in bringing its inaugural brick-and-mortar store to fruition. The store will reportedly open ahead of the back-to-school shopping season and will “bring our brand identity to life,” Blumenthal said per the outlet. As it stands, the company has only had a few pop-up shops for a physical presence.

The news comes a few weeks after Foot Locker invested $100 million in online sneaker platform Goat Group. Ultimately, the two companies plan to team up for a physical store and online presence to let consumers have exclusive shopping opportunities. As it stands, Foot Locker has upwards of 3,000 locations spread across 27 different countries. Some of those stores could reportedly feature products from Goat Group.

Foot Locker Chairman and CEO Richard Johnson said at the time of the announcement, “We are excited to leverage Goat Group’s technology to further innovate the sneaker buying experience and utilize their best-in-class online marketplace to help meet the ever-growing global demand for the latest product.” Johnson continued, “Together, Foot Locker and Goat Group’s shared commitment to trust and authenticity in the sneaker industry will provide consumers with unparalleled experiences and diversified offerings.”

At the time of the Goat investment, it was reported that Foot Locker had lately been investing heavily in online companies such as children’s brand Super Heroic, footwear design academy Pensole and women’s activewear company Carbon38.