Sneaker retailer Foot Locker is relocating its global headquarters to Florida from New York City and next month will debut its new tech hub in Dallas, all part of its "Lace Up" turnaround plan.

Over the years, in a trend that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, some New York-based firms have been moving their offices and operations to states considered less costly to do business in and with less taxes, places such as Florida and Texas. In Foot Locker's case, it is in the midst of making strategic changes to try to boost its sales, which has entailed shuttering hundreds of stores, moving others out of malls and testing a new store prototype in places such as the Willowbrook mall in Wayne, New Jersey.

Foot Locker unveiled its next moves when it reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings Wednesday. The chain, which operates 2,464 stores in 26 countries, said it will move its headquarters from 330 W. 34th St. in Manhattan to an unidentified location in St. Petersburg, Florida, in late 2025 in an effort to optimize its corporate office footprint. Foot Locker only plans to keep a limited presence in New York City.

"The intent of the relocation is to further build on the company's meaningful presence in St. Petersburg and to enable increased collaboration among teams across banners and functions, while also reducing costs," the company said in a statement.

Foot Locker is working with JLL's Location Economics Practice to identify the new headquarters site, according to the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and the St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corp. The retailer will be offered financial incentives pending City Council approval, according to local officials.

In a separate announcement, Foot Locker said that in September it will celebrate the opening of its Global Technology Services Hub in Dallas. Foot Locker didn't disclose the address of that facility.

"Led by Chief Technology Officer Adrian Butler, this new technology and innovation center will accelerate technology delivery and cross-functional collaboration with access to a best-in-class technology talent pool," the retailer said.

"Policies and business climates matter," John Boyd Jr., a principal at corporate-relocation consulting firm the Boyd Co., said in an email to CoStar News. "High taxes in New York, with more on the post-migrant surge horizon, and the quality-of-life challenges associated with the city are in stark contrast to what Foot Locker will experience in Florida. A favorable regulatory climate in St. Petersburg, the absence of a personal income tax, strong in-migration dynamics, a great local airport, and relative savings vis-à-vis other high-growth markets in Florida — like Miami and Palm Beach — all distinguish St. Pete as an attractive corporate headquarters location."

Foot Locker didn't immediately respond to an email from CoStar News asking for details about the new Florida headquarters and Dallas tech hub and for details about those locations.

There are a variety of reasons why both the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Dallas markets appeal to companies such as Foot Locker, according to Boyd.

"St. Petersburg is on a roll," he said. "Its retaining the MLB Tampa Bay Rays and the mixed-use development associated with its new ballpark project were huge wins for the city, as is the new major new office complex being developed by John A. Catsimatidis, the New York City-based billionaire businessman and radio talk-show host."

Tampa’s successful downtown waterfront development has been led by the owner of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, Jeff Vinik, according to Boyd.

Dallas has attributes similar to St. Petersburg that make it a good fit for a tech center, he said.

"Dallas is a major sports town as is the Tampa Bay market which — like Dallas — is home to many major league players and ex-players in baseball, football, hockey and basketball," Boyd said.

Foot Locker leases roughly 147,000 square feet in a building on West 34th Street that's owned by Vornado Realty Trust, according to CoStar data. The retailer moved into the space in January 2016 and its lease expires at the end of 2031, according to CoStar.

Vornado didn't return a phone call from CoStar News seeking a comment.

In an interview with CNBC, Foot Locker President and CEO Mary Dillon downplayed the cost benefits of moving the company's headquarters to Florida, saying it will only increase margins by 0.2 percentage point by 2027. Foot Locker already has a corporate office in St. Petersburg and its Champs chain is headquartered there.

"What this really does is build on what already is a very meaningful commercial and executive team presence in the St. Pete market," Dillon said on the earnings call. "We have a large center of gravity there already. Historically, that was originally the headquarters of Champs Sporting Goods. So we have a large concentration of folks there already, and we think it's a great place for us to continue to grow and do business and continue to attract top talent. We will maintain a limited presence only in New York, but we will have a presence connecting us to sneaker culture, sports, (and) fashion."

The relocation "is going to continue to give us better opportunities, both for further collaboration across the business, and there's some financial benefits over time as well," according to Dillon.

"We're not requiring relocation, so we really think we'll be able to attract or retain great talent," she said. "The details of what departments, where we're still working through, but generally speaking, it's kind of a move to enhance the center of gravity we have already, while maintaining a presence in New York."

Foot Locker will be the third Fortune 500 headquarters based in St. Petersburg, and the fourth in Pinellas County, joining St. Petersburg's Jabil and Raymond James, and Largo's TD Synnex.

"One reason we are the ideal business climate is the collaboration among business and government at all levels," Cynthia Johnson, director of Pinellas County Economic Development, said in a statement. " We saw this in the recruitment of Ark Invest and Dynasty Financial, who also relocated their headquarters from New York."

St. Petersburg "has now attracted a Fortune 500 company that will create 150-plus more jobs and further diversify our workforce," Mayor Kenneth Welch said in a statement.

Foot Locker's announcement caps speculation that started in 2021 that it was moving its headquarters to St. Petersburg. At that time, the City Council approved $475,000 in tax incentives for an unnamed Fortune 500 company identified as "Project Athena." Back then, according to city documents the applicant said it would need at least 100,000 square feet of office space, while county documents said the company would be the sole occupant of a 150,000-square-foot building, StPeteCatalyst.com reported.

As for Foot Locker's earnings results, it reported it had returned to top-line growth with total sales up 1.9% and comparable sales up 2.6%.

"To start, the second quarter marks a meaningful inflection point in our business and the execution of our Lace Up Plan," Dillon said on the conference call. "In the quarter, we saw a return to positive total and comp sales growth, while also returning to gross margin expansion, which demonstrates that our strategic investments in support of the Lace Up Plan are taking hold. Comps increased 2.6%, which was ahead of our expectations of flat to slightly positive. This was led by our global Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker banners, which comped up 5.2% ... We were also particularly pleased to see stabilization in the Champs Sports banner, as the banner achieved meaningful comp improvement quarter-over-quarter as its repositioning continues to take root."

Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director at analytics firm GlobaData, in a note on Wednesday said the second-quarter results were "something of a win" for Foot Locker.

"Some of the steps of the Lace Up plan have taken a while to deliver," he said. "However, we now see more tangible signs of these coming through. In Foot Locker stores the assortment of sneakers is broader and more balanced both in terms of the types and purpose of products, as well as the mix of brands. The decision to invest in stores is also sensible, and the latest shop formats create a more engaging and interesting experience which is exactly where Foot Locker needs to play if it wants to retain its position as a market leader."

The company also reported it was closing its stores and e-commerce operations in South Korea, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and turning to a third party to handle its operations in Greece and Romania. Combined, these actions will result in the closing or transfer of operations for roughly 30 stores of Foot Locker's 140 stores in Asia Pacific and 629 stores in Europe.