Even with the e-commerce boom, value footwear retailers DSW and Shoe Carnival aren’t losing sight of the importance of their brick and mortar footprints after a recent rebound in sales.
Both companies are modernising their existing stores with the addition of shop-in-shops, digital signage and services for kids. Shoe Carnival plans to redesign 90 per cent of its roughly 380 locations by 2025. The retailer is also expanding into new regions on the back of its acquisition of Shoe Station in December for $67M, which owns 21 locations across five Southeastern states. Rival DSW said on an earnings call in August that it is making progress on its facelift for its more than 500 stores, and also partnered with Staples last year to add back-to-school pop-ups in 48 locations.
According to Gartner Director Analyst Chelsea Gross, both DSW and Shoe Carnival are focused on maximising store profitability and bolstering ties with key brands that are critical to sales. The move follows a disruptive period of trading during the pandemic when their respective e-commerce sales ballooned and they began or continued to close some locations permanently. “This strategy will not prevent new store openings, but new stores are targeting lower cost structures,” Gross said.
