DTLR CEO Todd Kirssin on Continued Retail Expansion and Why DEI Is ‘Organic’ at the Retailer

The year is still young, but it has already featured moments to remember for DTLR.

The lifestyle retailer, which was acquired by JD Sports in February 2021, opened its 250th store this past February, a 6,000-square-foot location at Reisterstown Road Plaza in Baltimore. The location is fitting, as DTLR was founded in the Maryland city in 1982.

It was designed under its new NextGen concept, introduced in late 2023, which includes modern enhancements to offer consumers an elevated experience such as digital tickers, neon signage and highlighted areas in the footwear wall. 

The milestone moment, however, occurred during challenging time for retail. Aside from the economic instability that all businesses are facing, the current presidential administration has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts that has resulted in program rollbacks and more. DTLR has long been an advocate for, and worked with, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Here, chief executive officer Todd Kirssin — a 25-plus year company veteran who was elevated to the role in September 2023 — shares brick-and-mortar growth goals with FN and organically supporting diversity both internally and with its consumers.

DTLR opened its 250th store mid-February. What does this say about the company’s health?

“We’re in expansion mode, approximately low double-digit store growth for the year. The 250th store was in Baltimore where DTLR was started — and ironically also where I started in the business — and was a super special moment for us. It was nostalgic and it pays homage to our roots in Baltimore and our success in the DMV, our hometown, our home area. The reason we’re very successful as a retailer is because the consumer here is so fast and we have to always keep up with their needs, their wants and their desires: fast-fashion, latest and greatest. That’s helps us stay so entrenched in the other markets we serve as well.”

Could you offer more details into brick-and-mortar expansion plans? Is there an ideal store count increase for 2025? Are there regions that you are under-penetrated in?

“The plan is to open up approximately 20 stores this year. We’re looking to backfill a lot of our existing cities and states. We’re opening up some more stores in Georgia, Maryland, northern Florida, Ohio, and Philadelphia.”

What makes your home DMV region so special?

“It’s our consumer. We’re blessed to have this consumer with an insatiable appetite for looking good, looking for the next thing to make them stand out and their expression through their footwear and apparel and accessories, from head-to-toe. That challenges our merchant team to constantly try to fill those desires.”

What is today’s DTLR consumer shopping for?

“Sneakers. I always say it’s the obtainable Mercedes in a way. You could buy a pair of sneakers for $100 to $200 and it makes our customers feel really good, they feel special when they’re putting that shoe on. It makes them stand out. They’re looking for color, they’re looking for comfort now more than ever. Differentiation, something special. Standout materials like metallics or bright neon colors. And then it radiates from the foot up.”

It appears as if DTLR’s relationship with New Balance has always been strong, given all the collaborations and retailer exclusives you’ve sold. How has your relationship with New Balance, which is red-hot at the moment, been invaluable?

“Our relationship is very time tested, going back in our 45-year history. We’ve always had relationships with New Balance, it was always a great brand going back to [the early popularity of] 996s and 1300s in Baltimore and Washington [D.C.], so we were always playing with the brand and footwear and a little bit of apparel here and there. They’ve gotten this huge run up the last three years, a lot of retailers were like running and chasing them, but you have DTLR that’s always been there, that’s always worked with them, in the good times and the not as hot times with the brand. Those relationships run deep and they’re true, all the way from senior leadership a New Balance to our reps and customer service.”

What other footwear brands are your consumers looking for?

“We always have heritage brands, authentic brands like the Timberlands of the world, Nike and Jordan and Adidas. And Ugg would be one of them. We’ve been an Ugg retailer for over 25 years, we’re one of the first that adopted Ugg. We started with two stores and now we’re growing that business, it’s a huge mainstay for us, not only fall and holiday, but also spring and summer. And then you have Saucony, a heritage brand. We’re always looking for the ones that bubble up and make some noise and try to be the first ones on those brands, like a Saucony or an Asics, that is delivering color, something special that has heritage and has authenticity.”

DEI efforts in this country are changing dramatically after being a target of the current presidential administration, but DTLR has long been an advocate for diversity and has worked directly with HBCUs. How are today’s DEI conversations impacting DTLR?

“We’re a very diverse company in our senior leadership team all the way down. It’s something we’re very proud of. We want to make sure that we’re very inclusive as a senior team to make sure everybody’s heard and to understand the lens of our consumer. We give back and do community outreach through HBCUs, CIAA [Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association], and the events that we do are always through that lens of our consumer. And especially with HBCUs, when we try to hire we recruit from the campuses. We talk through our actions. We do this organically through our actions and our leadership. We don’t do things just to do them and say that we’re a diverse company. We just walk the walk.”

Looking ahead, what will the story of DTLR be by year’s end?

“I took the helm approximately a year ago, and under our new leadership team, we’ve done a lot of great foundational work with our new store concept. That is one of our biggest wins, our NextGen store concept, which has been super successful. It’s giving us better engagement with our consumer, more capacity and density in store, better brand call outs, better gender call outs, more opportunity to cross merchandise. That’s been a huge success for our visual merchandising team and for our buying team. And then we’re focused on marketing and community outreach and engaging with our consumer to be as relevant as we can and stay relevant, stay top of mind. We’re building that out with our social media, along with all the other things that we do to continue to speak to the consumer, to highlight products, special makeups that differentiate DTLR from our competition in this space.”