Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. Today's question-and-answer session will be conducted electronically. (Operator Instructions)
We'll take our first question from Jeff Stein with KeyBanc. Please go ahead.
Jeffrey Stein - KeyBanc
Mark, a question on expansion. Wondering, you know, given the fact that consumer spending seems to be weakening here a bit, wondering if you still feel as comfortable as you did earlier with 30 to 40 new stores next year and how much flexibility you have and at what point you would have to make a decision if you were to decide to cut that back at all?
Mark Lemond - President, CEO
Well, Jeff, we look at that on a day-to-day basis. It's not -- we don't say, you know, as of December 31, we'll make a decision on expansion for next year. It's a -- we constantly review that. So that's an ongoing process.
With respect to the commitment that we've made towards that next year from a legal standpoint, we have seven signed leases at this point in time. And as I said, we're negotiating terms on approximately 16 others.
The things that we look at in addition to consumer debt and consumer spending and the slowdown with certain of our product lines, particularly in the athletic sector, is the availability and the quality of the store sites that we're looking at.
You know, one of the strategy changes that we've made in anticipation of economic slowdown is we constantly review the number of large markets that we're going to enter into at any particular time. We have made a decision to only enter into two larger markets next year instead of three or four that we had originally contemplated.
But again, that's not a yesterday's decision. That's the decision that we make over time when we review the markets. We review what spending habits are in those markets. We review the availability of store sites and so forth. So as of right now, we are still fully intending to get between 30 and 40 stores opened.
As I mentioned, when you include the leases that we signed, with the leases that we are negotiating, with the LOIs that we're negotiating, and certain other sites we're considering, there are approximately 60 or so potential locations that are currently being analyzed.
Jeffrey Stein - KeyBanc
Mark, what percent of your stores for next year would you say, just approximately, would be in existing medium markets?
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