The Athlete's Foot - The Bounce - Q1-2021 by TAF

championing black-owned retail ISOM LOWMAN giving knowledge on the importance of Black Owned Businesses

plus: Lunar RAE blessing the world with her talent Battle of the Kicks is churning out creativity at another level

TA F Q U A R T E R LY Q 1 / 2 0 2 1

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Artist: @manasseh_art © TAF TAF USA USA 2020. 2021. All © All Rights Rights Reserved Reserved

contents a word from...

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StAART

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a word from... Being a black business owner is about more than just business. Because there are so few of us, we have a responsibility to be the best at what we do to show others like us that they too can succeed. We must show the youth that they have other options to be successful outside of sports and entertainment. We also have the responsibility to bring about real change in our communities. This change comes from investing ﬁnancial resources in the community, giving people opportunities to work who may have made mistakes in the past, and from hands-on mentorship with at-risk youth in need of positive role models. As black business owners, we must be strong, passionate, and take risks to help others. So many people gave their lives to give us this opportunity, so we must pay it forward.

isom lowman

We must do the right thing for our communities, even when no one is looking because God sees everything.

TAF Franchisee since 1999

The Athlete's Foot Makes Commitment to Develop Next Generation of Black Franchise Owners & Diversify the Sneaker Industry Announces StAART - Strategic African American Retail Track The Athlete’s Foot (TAF) USA has officially announced the launch of its new signature program, StAART, which stands for Strategic African American Retail Track. Its mission is to increase African American representation and ownership within the sneaker industry, particularly through franchising, while championing Black-owned retail and entrepreneurship within the Black community at-large. The program directly addresses one of the greatest disparities in the industry. “The data shows that Black people are the primary consumers and influencers of sneakers and athletic apparel but are not represented in positions of leadership or profit,” said Darius Billings, senior director of product and marketing for The Athlete’s Foot USA and the creator of StAART. “We are on a mission to change that through StAART. We need more African American ownership within this industry that was built on Black culture and Black influence and within Black communities. Ownership is directly tied to wealth. If we can create more African American retail owners, the ripple effect in the industry and the community stands to be remarkable.” Through StAART, The Athlete’s Foot will directly recruit, develop and mentor Black entrepreneurs through its retail franchise model. The program will provide StAART franchisees with access to resources, systems, relationships with its strategic brand partners, and a mentorship network - directly addressing many of the barriers that typically prevent Black entrepreneurs from launching and successfully sustaining their businesses. TAF will also develop programs to expose and educate current and future Black entrepreneurs on other opportunities that exist within the sneaker industry. The Athlete’s Foot, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, was the country’s first athletic retail franchise and continues to be the only athletic specialty lifestyle retailer that operates solely under a franchise model, making it uniquely positioned to launch a program like StAART. All of its stores nationwide are independently owned and operated, with most operators owning multiple stores. The idea for StAART came to Billings in the summer of 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Billings drew inspiration for StAART from longtime TAF franchisee Isom Lowman. Lowman opened his first TAF store at the age of 23, right out of Morehouse College, and has owned 39 stores since then, including one of the most successful TAF stores in the world. “Our goal, through StAART, is to create more Isom Lowmans,” said Billings. TAF has curated a StAART advisory council that includes key influencers within the sneaker industry as well as professional and community organizations that can lend additional support in making StAART a success. The StAART program officially launched on April 27. Those interested in learning more, applying or becoming a StAART partner can visit staart.us for information.

panel discussion To celebrate the launch of StAART, The Athlete’s Foot hosted a community conversation titled Black Representation and Ownership in the Sneaker Industry. “We felt it important to launch StAART with this conversation as a way to ground us in our ‘why’ for the program and remind us of the power that exists when we openly communicate and collaborate,” said Darius Billings, TAF USA’s senior director of product and marketing and the creator of StAART. “This is the first of many conversations that The Athlete’s Foot plans to hold to help not only bring awareness but action to the disparities present within the industry.” Darius was joined on the panel by industry veterans John Scipio, CEO of SV Sports and former Nike executive; Karla Duncan, national sales manager with Puma North America; and Isom Lowman, 20+ year franchisee with The Athlete’s Foot. The discussion ranged in topic from barriers to entry within the industry to the role that brands play in inclusion and diversity to the need for more Black women in positions of influence and leadership. Journalist, actress and former TAF employee Brii Renee served as the moderator. The conversation culminated with the introduction of StAART - which endeavors to be part of the solution for the Black community to gain more equity within the industry. The event was held at the H.J. Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RCIE) - a fitting location given the legacy of entrepreneur and pioneer H.J. Russell and the mission of RCIE. Due to COVID restrictions, an intimate group gathered in person as others joined virtually. As part of StAART’s mission to expose and educate current and future entrepreneurs on opportunities within the sneaker industry, TAF will continue to host these community conversations virtually and in-person across the country.

new & notable pooler, ga

Opening date: 02.20.21 110 Southern Junction Blvd Pooler, GA 2193 SQ FT (sales floor) 775 SQ FT (stock room)

new & notable salisbury, nc relocation

Opening date: 02.04.21 1345 Klumac Road, Suite A3 Salisbury, NC 2600 SQ FT (sales floor) 1230 SQ FT (stock room)

“she

TAF elite

drums”

In Honor of Women’s History Month, we wanted to celebrate her with some percussion. Three incredible drummers, Amber Baker aka Lunar RAE @lunarreamusic, Bianca Richardson @b.richdrumz and Jazz Kelley @jazzkelley_, each paid homage to a powerful female musician. Lunar RAE chose to highlight Janelle Monae, and covered her songs “Django Jane” mashed up with “Crazy, Classic, Life” for a few reasons she states. “Janelle Monae is an incredible inspiration to me, she exudes beauty, style, freedom, and a symbol of representation! These two songs empower women and show we can be free in ourselves. As a Black woman, it is always a great feeling to see our own uplifting the culture.” Check out a clip of Lunar RAE’s tribute. You can find the other videos on IG @theathletesfootusa.

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taco

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Tuesdays are starting to become everyone’s favorite day. Why you ask? TACOS, TACOS, TACOS and of course beer specials. But on Tuesday, March 23rd, we replaced the beer with hot product from The Taqueria Puma Collection.

Taqueria Puma was in full effect at our Henderson, NC location. We partnered with Gonza Tacos y Tequila @gonzatacosytequila to provide free tacos to all the customers that came by the store. Check out the video to see how Tuesdays should be celebrated! Huge thanks to Puma for activating with us and a big shout out to the Dahir family for executing a great event!!!!

Check out the taco tuesday celebration

TAF life Battle of the KICKS For our third edition of “Battle of the Kicks” and to celebrate Air Max Day, we took to the creatives. Six talented designers battled it out to see who could come up with the most creative Air Max. Each artist had their free range of which Air Max they wanted to design. With so many options, we knew that this would be the best thus far. Although all the entries were amazing, the fans made it clear which one they loved the best. We were proud to announce the 1st place winner, Air Viv, designed by @quakesolo. The Air Viv paid homage to Janet Hubert, aka Aunt Viv, from the hit television show Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The inspiration came from Aunt Viv’s famous dance audition. If you haven’t seen this episode or at least a clip….you need to stop reading this, go to Youtube right now and search Aunt Viv audition. I’ll wait…… I told you!!! I know some of you are trying to do her shoulder move right now. Aunt Viv’s character was a true inspiration for so many, especially @quakesolo. So when the winning design caught the attention of Janet Hubert, it made it all that more special. Check out the dialogue between the designer, @quakesolo and Janet Hubert @janethubertformyfanspage.

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