Footstar
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Footwear retail |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Fate | Integrated into Xstelos Holdings, Inc. in April 2012 |
| Headquarters | Mahwah, New Jersey , United States |
| Products | Footwear retail, shoe department operations |
Footstar, Inc. operated as a footwear retailer with its main office located in Mahwah, New Jersey. The company's shares were publicly traded on the Pink Sheets under the ticker symbol “FTAR.” In April 2012, Footstar was integrated into Xstelos Holdings, Inc.
History
In 1996, Footstar was established as a separate entity following a corporate restructuring of Melville Corporation, which involved reorganizing its various business units such as Marshalls, KB Toys, This End Up, and Linens 'n Things. After divesting or spinning off all divisions except CVS Pharmacy, Melville rebranded itself as CVS Corporation and moved its headquarters to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Footstar initially comprised three former Melville segments: the family footwear chain Thom McAn, the athletic shoe retailer FootAction USA, and Meldisco, which managed shoe departments within department and discount stores, predominantly Kmart. Following the closure of the Thom McAn retail division, Footstar maintained ownership of the Thom McAn brand. Currently, both the Thom McAn brand and Kmart’s footwear departments are owned and operated by Sears Brands, LLC. In 2000, Footstar expanded by acquiring the shoe retailer Just For Feet after it filed for bankruptcy.
Financial difficulties
In March 2004, Footstar filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During this period, the Just for Feet stores were closed and FootAction USA was sold to Foot Locker Inc. The company successfully emerged from bankruptcy on February 6, 2006.
As part of a July 2005 deal with Kmart’s parent company Sears Holdings, Footstar agreed to operate footwear departments within Kmart stores until December 31, 2008. After this date, Footstar was to transfer any remaining inventory to Kmart at book value. Later in April 2008, Sears Holdings acquired Footstar’s intellectual property assets, including ownership of the Thom McAn brand name.
Pharmaceutical Acquisition
In January 2011, Footstar revealed its plan to purchase CPEX Pharmaceuticals Inc. This transaction was executed via FCB I Acquisition Corp., a fully owned subsidiary of FCB I Holdings Inc., with ownership divided as 80.5% by Footstar Corporation and 19.5% by an independent investment holding entity.