Shoe Carnival is slowing its rebrand of its namesake stores to Shoe Station after finding that in some locations customers didn’t respond well to the new merchandising, interim CEO Cliff Sifford told analysts Thursday.
Previously the company anticipated that more than 90% of its fleet would operate as Shoe Station stores by the end of fiscal 2028, based on early results as stores were converted. But that success didn’t translate to all stores as the project expanded, Sifford said.
“The first few stores that we opened up were in great locations that serve a customer with a higher income level, higher demographics,” he said. “And then we started converting Shoe Carnival stores, and I believe that we converted them too quickly, before we did the research on the individual stores. So I think it's a fixable problem.”
Recasting the retailer was heartily endorsed by previous CEO Mark Worden, who said last year that it was “crystal clear that Shoe Station is the future of our organic growth and future of our store base.” Worden, who had replaced Sifford as CEO in 2021, left the post and the company’s board last month.
By the end of the year, after rebranding 101 stores in 2025, the company was running 144 Shoe Station stores. That’s about a third of its 426-store fleet, up from 10% the previous year.
This year the retailer will rebrand 21 stores, ahead of back-to-school season.
While the rebranding project may have been executed a bit hastily, and the scope may now be scaled back, the rationale for it remains valid, executives said. Last year Shoe Carnival’s 7.7% year-on-year net sales decline was largely responsible for driving down the company’s comps and net sales by 5.6%; net sales for the full year reached $1.1 billion. Shoe Carnival drives about 65% of the retailer’s total volume, but Shoe Station is its “long-term growth vehicle,” Sifford said.
Plus, even where the rebrand floundered, there are "absolutely" no plans to convert any locations back to Shoe Carnival, Sifford said.
“We are going to adjust the product mix in those stores – especially where the demographics demand that – so that we can get the customer that was shopping in those stores to shop in the Shoe Station stores,” he said.
Ultimately, the company will run two banners rather than fully transform all locations to Shoe Station. Sifford said he thinks the Shoe Carnival brand should be retained in the Midwest and North-midwest and South.
Changing the company’s corporate name to Shoe Station Group also remains on the agenda for its June annual meeting.
