Footstar, Inc., was a

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

retailer that was headquartered in

Mahwah, New Jersey Mahwah is the northernmost and largest municipality by geographic area () in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the township was 25,487, a decline of 403 from the 25,890 counted in the ...

. The company was traded under the symbol “FTAR” on the Pink Sheets. In April 2012, Footstar was merged into Xstelos Holdings, Inc.

History

Footstar was spun off from the

Melville Corporation Melville Corporation, formerly based in Rye, New York, was a large retail holding company incorporated by Ward Melville in 1922 from Melville Shoe Corporation, Melville Shoe Company. It became CVS Corporation in 1996 under a massive reorganization ...

in 1996 as part of that corporation's reorganization of all of its operating divisions including

Marshall's Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...

KB Toys K·B Toys (also known as Kay Bee Toys) was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy who ...

, This End Up, and

Linens 'n Things Linens 'n Things was a Clifton, New Jersey-based big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. The chain operated 571 stores in 47 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and had 7,300 employees as of ...

. After the spinoff and/or sale of all of its divisions other than

CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...

, Melville changed its name to

CVS Corporation CVS Health Corporation (previously CVS Corporation and CVS Caremark Corporation) is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provi ...

and relocated its headquarters to

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsock ...

. Footstar originally consisted of three former Melville divisions: family footwear retailer

Thom McAn The surname Thom is of Scottish origin, from the city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus, and is a sept of the Clan MacThomas. Thom is also a first name variant of the abbreviation " Tom" of "Thomas" that holds the "h". People with the surname ...

, athletic shoe retailer FootAction USA, and Meldisco, which operated footwear departments inside department and discount stores, primarily

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

. After closing down its Thom McAn division, Footstar retained its rights to the Thom McAn shoe brand. The Thom McAn brand and the Kmart footwear departments are now owned and operated by Sears Brands, LLC. In 2000, Footstar acquired the shoe retailer

Just for Feet Just For Feet Inc. was an athletic shoe and sportswear retail store chain headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama which became one of the largest and fastest growing athletic stores in the United States. In 2000, Footstar acquired Just For Feet. It c ...

, which had filed for bankruptcy.

Financial difficulties

The company entered

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

in March 2004, during which the Just for Feet chain was shut down and FootAction USA was sold to

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an Americans, American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in ...

Inc. Footstar emerged from bankruptcy on February 6, 2006. Under a July 2005 agreement with Kmart owner

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

, Footstar agreed to continue operating stores within Kmart until December 31, 2008, at which point Footstar was to sell the remaining inventory to Kmart at book value. In April 2008, Sears Holdings agreed to obtain Footstar's intellectual property as well, including the Thom McAn brand name.

Pharmaceutical acquisition

In January 2011, Footstar announced that it was acquiring CPEX Pharmaceuticals Inc. The acquisition was made through FCB I Acquisition Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of FCB I Holdings Inc., which was owned 80.5% by Footstar Corporation and 19.5% by an unaffiliated investment holding company.Footstar Announces Agreement To Acquire CPEX Pharmaceuticals in Transaction Valued at $76.6M (press release)
BioSpace, January 4, 2011.

References

{{reflist
Footstar November 2005 Monthly Operating ReportFootstar February 2006 Press ReleaseYahoo! Footstar profile

External links

Official Footstar website
Foot Locker Footwear retailers of the United States American companies established in 1996 Clothing companies established in 1996 Retail companies established in 1996 Shoe companies of the United States Companies based in Bergen County, New Jersey Mahwah, New Jersey 1996 establishments in New Jersey Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004