World Leader In Athletic Footwear Franchising To Exhibit At ISPO

The Athlete's Foot will promote its award-winning franchise program at ISPO in an effort to further its strategic focus of international expansion. The Athlete's Foot has been on an aggressive growth track since 1998 and will continue this pattern in 2002. The company plans to add 110 new franchise stores this year, 70 of which will be in international markets.

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) January 20, 2002 -- The Athletes Foot Group, Inc., one of the worlds leading athletic footwear retailers, will exhibit at ISPO in Munich, Germany February 2 through February 5. The company will be promoting its award-winning franchise opportunity in an effort to further its strategic focus of international expansion.

The Athletes Foot has been on an aggressive growth track since 1998 and will continue this pattern in 2002. The company plans to add 110 new franchise stores this year, 70 of which will be in international markets. The Athletes Foot recently opened its first stores in Mexico and will open new stores in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and North America in 2002.

In addition, The Athletes Foot plans expansion of its proprietary FitPrint technology throughout international markets to further expand its competitive advantage in the athletic footwear retail marketplace. The proprietary state-of-the-art FitPrint System is a high-tech pressure-point device that measures and identifies pressure points in the foot through different phases of a customers gait. The Athletes Foot is the first retailer with plans to implement this technology in all of its corporately-owned stores.

According to Bob Corliss, president and CEO, The Athletes Foot continues our pursuit of expansion in the international markets. As a result of a number of initiatives completed in 2001, the company is at optimum position for continued growth and profitability." Corliss added, The FitPrint System is the centerpiece" of our store experience and provides the opportunity for consumers around the globe to make the best possible choice of footwear based on their foot type. We believe this technology coupled with our award-winning franchise program will continue to provide The Athletes Foot a unique competitive advantage."

Atlanta-based The Athletes Foot Group, Inc. is a privately owned international athletic footwear retailer operating more than 800 corporate and franchise stores in 50 --plus countries. The company was recognized as a Trendsetter of the Year" for 1999 and 2000 by Sports Trend magazine, a leading sporting goods industry trade publication. It has also been named Success magazines number one franchise opportunity and Entrepreneur International magazines eighth largest global retail franchisor. Recent news releases and other information are on The Athlete's Foots Internet home page at www.theathletesfoot.com.
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THE ATHLETES FOOT GROUP, INC.
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY:

Bob Corliss, president and CEO of The Athletes Foot Group, Inc. and Dan Benton, director of franchise will be available at ISPO for media interviews.

If you are interested in more information or would like to interview a The Athletes Foot representative -- please call Kimberly Garwood at (770) 514-4551, e-mail at kgarwood@theathletesfoot.com, or visit The Athletes Foot booth at ISPO (B1, 321).