Shoe Carnival has dropped its plans to operate as a single banner after its namesake chain posted encouraging results in the latest quarter.
Last November, the company revealed its strategy to convert over 90 per cent of Shoe Carnival stores into Shoe Station stores and change its corporate name to Shoe Station Group. The move came as the Shoe Carnival businesses remained subdued while the Shoe Station counterpart saw strong growth momentum at the time.
Last year, the company’s net sales slid 5.6 per cent, with Shoe Carnival sales down 7.7 per cent and Shoe Station up 2.7 per cent.
In the latest trading update, however, management said each banner serves distinct consumer segments, and that the company is best positioned to operate both banners as “permanent, independent components” of its portfolio.
“The Shoe Carnival banner narrowed its year-over-year sales decline meaningfully compared to fiscal 2025 trends,” said Cliff Sifford, the company’s interim president and CEO.
“In addition, we continue to feel confident about growth opportunities for the Shoe Station banner – both through new store growth in markets that serve the target consumer segment and rebannering of select Shoe Carnival locations that meet the criteria for conversion to Shoe Station.”
For the first quarter of FY26, Shoe Carnival’s net sales, which represent 65 per cent of total sales, declined 2.2 per cent, with comparable store sales down 1.7 per cent. This was an improvement compared to mid-to-high single-digit quarterly declines throughout last year.
Shoe Station’s net sales fell 3.1 per cent, with comparable store net sales down 2.9 percent. Improved trends in rebanner store sales were more than offset by slower growth from the Shoe Station e-commerce sales channel.
Overall, net sales decreased 2.5 per cent to $270.7 million during the quarter, and comparable store sales declined 2.1 per cent. A net income of $9.3 million on the bottom line was replaced by a net loss of $5.6 million.
For the full year, the retailer expects net sales of $1.125 billion to $1.147 billion, representing a range of down 1 per cent to up 1 per cent.
As of May 21, the company operated 426 stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico under its Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station banners.
