Foot Locker plans to open dozens of Power stores across the U.S. over the next few years.

Foot Locker is teaming with Nike as it rolls out bigger, more interactive stores.

These so-called Power stores are four times as big as a typical Foot Locker store in malls. The newest will open Saturday in New York — in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The retailer plans to open upwards of 50 Power stores over the next three years. It has three in the U.S. today: one in Detroit and two in Philadelphia.

The roughly 9,000-square-foot store in Washington Heights is the first location where Nike has brought some of its proprietary technology into another retailer's bricks-and-mortar shop. At the store, Nike's loyalty members can scan a bar code within their Nike app to get free swag like sunglasses, purchase exclusive products and have the chance to win a free pair of sneakers. Nike has taken some of the things it's been testing out at its Nike Live store on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, and bringing it into Foot Locker.

"This is a big deal for us," Ann Hebert, vice president of global sales for Nike, said in an interview. "It's not something that we traditionally do."

But, she said, Nike has worked with Foot Locker "for decades." And, she added, Nike realizes it can't keep growing the business on its own, especially in neighborhoods where it doesn't already have a store.

Nike is Foot Locker's biggest brand partner. And Foot Locker is also one of Nike's biggest wholesalers. Foot Locker says it purchased about two-thirds of its merchandise from Nike in 2017 and 2018.

And while Nike has been growing its direct-to-consumer business — building its website and mobile apps like SNKRS — it still needs key partners like Foot Locker and Nordstrom to reach shoppers who don't live near a Nike store or who don't want to shop on Nike.com.

"Partners extend that customer relationship for us," Hebert said. "We know [consumers] want choice. So we want to make sure we are located in their path."

Sales from Nike's Direct business rose 12% on a currency-neutral basis to $10.4 billion in fiscal 2018 from $9.1 billion in fiscal 2017, according to SEC filings. Direct revenue now makes up about 30% of total Nike brand revenue, the company said, fueled largely by online growth.