New Footwear Brand a Slam Dunk Customer Experience for Kmart

Kmart is hoping for a slam dunk customer experience as it partners with Risewear to launch a new lifestyle athleisure brand of maximum performance footwear via “The Rise™ Challenge” – an epic parking lot slam dunk contest. Through this partnership, Risewear and Kmart – the exclusive U.S. retailer – provide access to top-performing contemporary shoes without breaking the budget for shoppers and fans.

The line features shoes for the whole family, including men’s basketball, athletic and casual shoes and sandals, all under $45.00. Women’s and children’s lines will be added this holiday season.

Kmart CMO Kelly Cook talked to Loyalty360 about the exciting new partnership.

“The partnership between Kmart and Risewear is part of Kmart’s ongoing strategy to provide members with the ridiculously awesome products and amazing value that they expect to find at Kmart every day,” Cook explained. “This high-performance and priced-right new footwear brand is a slam dunk for Kmart’s members and shoppers.” 

The partnership instantly brings the new Risewear brand to millions of loyal Kmart members. 

“Kmart is making shopping fun again and we are focused on what makes Kmart great by bringing it to life in everything we do,” Cook said. “We continue to leverage our brand heritage in a way that is relevant and modern – like the return of the iconic Bluelight Special. Kmart is a household brand known for family shopping so we’ve brought back the fun that many Americans remember as kids - FREEBIE Saturdays and ridiculously awesome in-store events. Our partnership with Risewear is another example of how Kmart offers members and shoppers thrilling deals and amazing finds on quality products and exclusive brands.”

To celebrate the exclusive launch, Kmart has partnered with Risewear to produce The Rise Challenge, a series of interactive and unique fan-focused sporting entertainment experiences. The events feature competitions between some of the nation’s top dunkers on custom-branded half-courts at Kmart parking lots in six cities around the country. The marquee attraction is the epic dunk contest featuring current Risewear athlete and veteran dunker Taurian “Air Up There” Fontenette, along with the nation’s top four dunkers, Chris Staples, Guy Dupuy, Porter Maberry, and Jonathan Clark. This amazing fan experience is complete with athlete meet and greets, hot giveaways, free customization.

The Rise Challenge kicked off with a mega-launch and blowout party in downtown Los Angeles on July 16, which was followed by a July 17 event at the Kmart in North Hollywood. Other events are slated as follows:

July 23 – Kmart Hayward (26231 Mission Boulevard, Hayward, CA 94544)
July 30 – Kmart Miami (12350 South West 8th Street, Miami, FL 33184)
August 6 – Kmart Washington D.C (6411 Riggs Road, Hayattsville, MD 20783)
August 13 – Kmart Jersey City (321 Stadium Plaza, Suite. 10, Jersey City, NJ 07305-4877)
August 20 – Kmart Chicago (3443 West Addison Street, Chicago, IL 60618)

“An exclusive launch partnership with this exciting and innovative new brand furthers our commitment to offering products our Kmart members want at prices they can't pass up,” Cook added. “These shoes can ‘hang’ with the leading high-priced competition.”

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