Footlocker: ”We know what to expect of each other”

The collaboration between Foot Locker and Van Duuren is to some extent thanks to this magazine, recalls Marco de Jong, as Director Supply Chain responsible for distribution within Foot Locker. “I was drawing up a tender for Spain and Portugal when I read an article about these countries in Drive. That was a good reason for me to phone Jeroen.” After discussions with various logistics companies the choice was made for Van Duuren for the distribution to the Iberian Peninsula. Two years later Greater Paris was added to this. Marco de Jong: “Jeroen and Stef Blommaart had looked at our requirements very carefully and come up with a clear proposal. I appreciated the clarity as regards partner choice and tariffs.”

As the consignments have to be delivered right through to store level, time is an important factor in the service for Foot Locker. Van Duuren Districenters has to take into account the time windows that are often laid down by the local authorities for deliveries to shopping centres. Jeroen van Duuren: “For example, for the 26 stores in Paris it means loading at 6.00 p.m. at Foot Locker, with the driver arriving in Paris at 3.00 a.m. so that the sportswear can be delivered to the stores at 7.00 a.m. The store manager can then have the articles put onto the shelves before the rush starts.”

“The most important thing for me is that the store managers are happy. The collaboration between the driver and the store manager has to run very smoothly,” emphasizes Marco de Jong. “I think they really understood that at Van Duuren. For, example, Stef has visited all the store managers personally to find out their needs.” Jeroen van Duuren adds: “We have now got specific agreements with each Foot Locker store. Not just about time windows, but also about the maximum number of boxes we can deliver on a day. Some stores are so small that they can’t accommodate more than 25 boxes. If there are more in a consignment we just hold them back at our partner’s hub.” The distribution system for Foot Locker has to satisfy a large number of requirements, and Marco de Jong realizes that these are not always easy to satisfy. “The strength of our collaboration is that each of us can honestly tell the other what we expect of them. When you can be open with one another about that it goes without saying that doing business together is both effective and agreeable.