The Shoe Carnival banner isn’t going away.
In a change from prior strategy, Shoe Carnival Inc. will operate both its Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station “banners as permanent independent components of our portfolio,” interim president and chief executive officer Cliff Sifford told investors in a Wednesday conference call after the retailer posted first quarter earnings results.
He explained that the shift in strategy from that of his predecessor Mark Worden that saw Shoe Carnival stores change the nameplate to Shoe Station. Sifford explained that each banner serves distinct customer segments. Moreover, the rebanner program has been successful in certain markets that aligned with consumer demographics, and that there is “only a limited number of additional Shoe Carnival locations that meet the criteria for conversion. That criteria includes customer data, individual store trade areas, shopping center co-tenancy and brands awareness by market.
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A hint of a possible change came earlier this year when Sifford said in March when fourth quarter earnings results were reported that the company was slowing down the store banner conversion rate.
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Sifford also said that there are about 12 to 14 underperforming locations that will close during Fiscal 2026, offset by the opening of six new stores during Fiscal 2027. The company is also looking at eight to ten new stores in Fiscal 2008, with most new locations under the premium concept Shoe Station.
He also said that the Shoe Carnival banner “has more potential than recent results have shown.” The CEO explained that what the banner needs is the “right product mix that delivers competitive opening price points out customer expects.” However, that change likely won’t be visible in reporting result until back-to-school for the athletic categories and into the fall season for non-athletic categories.
The Shoe Carnival customer base is diverse, but more a young customer that includes families starting out looking at value and is fast-fashion focused, while the Shoe Station customer is older, with higher income and is looking for better brands and better product.
For the first quarter ended May 2, the retailer posted a net loss of $5.6 million on revenue of $270.7 million. That compares with net income of $9.3 million on revenue of $277.7 million in the same year-ago period.