NASDAQ:SCVL Shoe Carnival Q2 2025 Earnings Report $17.61 +0.49 (+2.86%) Closing price 05/5/2026 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$17.93 +0.32 (+1.81%) As of 08:06 AM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more. ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast Shoe Carnival EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.70Consensus EPS $0.61Beat/MissBeat by +$0.09One Year Ago EPS$0.83Shoe Carnival Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$306.39 millionExpected Revenue$318.31 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$11.92 millionYoY Revenue Growth-7.90%Shoe Carnival Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2025Date9/4/2025TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateThursday, September 4, 2025Conference Call Time9:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsShoe Carnival's Q1 2026 earnings is estimated for Friday, May 29, 2026, based on past reporting schedules, with a conference call scheduled at 9:00 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Q1 2027 Earnings ReportConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by Shoe Carnival Q2 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrSeptember 4, 2025 ShareLink copied to clipboard.Key Takeaways Positive Sentiment: The company beat consensus earnings by over 20% with Q2 EPS of $0.70 and achieved a record Q2 gross margin of 38.8%, driven by disciplined pricing, improved mix, and stronger inventory availability. Positive Sentiment: Back-to-school was a “must win” period as Shoe Station comps grew high single digits with margin expansion, Shoe Carnival saw positive children’s sales growth, and Rogan’s delivered both sales and margin gains. Positive Sentiment: The Rebanner strategy accelerated with Shoe Station stores rising to 42 (20% of fleet), attracting higher-income customers, driving +280 bps margin at Shoe Station, and targeting 145 stores by fiscal year-end. Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2025 guidance, tightening net sales to $1.12–$1.15 billion, lifting EPS range to $1.70–$2.10, and boosting gross profit margin outlook by 150 bps based on strong Q2 and August performance. Negative Sentiment: Shoe Carnival comps declined high single digits as the company focuses on margin over traffic, signaling a strategic shift away from sub-$30k household customers and managing Carnival as a cash generator. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallShoe Carnival Q2 202500:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xThere are 6 speakers on the call. Speaker 300:00:00Good morning, and welcome to Shoe Carnival's second quarter, twenty twenty-five conference call. Today's conference call is being recorded and is also being broadcast via webcast. Any reproduction or rebroadcast of any portion of this call is expressly prohibited. Management's remarks today may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risk factors. These risk factors could cause the company's actual results to be materially different from those projected in such statements. Forward-looking statements should also be considered in conjunction with the discussion of risk factors included in the company's SEC filings and today's earnings press release. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. Speaker 300:00:45The company disclaims any obligation to update any of the risk factors or to publicly announce any revisions to the forward-looking statements discussed on today's conference call or contained in today's press release to reflect future events or developments. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Mark Worden, President and CEO of Shoe Carnival, for opening remarks. Mr. Worden, you may begin. Speaker 200:01:09Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Shoe Carnival's second quarter, 2025 earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call are Patrick Edwards, Chief Financial Officer, and Tanya Gordon, Chief Merchandising Officer. Our second quarter results demonstrate meaningful progress on our corporate strategy. We beat earnings consensus by over 20% and expanded gross margins 270 basis points to 38.8%, our strongest Q2 margin in years. Our rebanner strategy is exceeding targets. EPS declined year over year from our planned rebanner investments, as expected, but margins expanded faster than planned, driving our strong earnings beat for the quarter. Since our last call, we've completed our back-to-school season, the period that defines our year. Fiscal August represents less than 8% of our days, but drives approximately 25% of our annual profits. Speaker 200:02:11As we moved into back-to-school in August, we achieved a significant milestone. The company returned to positive comparable sales growth for this must-win period. Shoe Station grew sales high single digits and expanded margins. Shoe Carnival delivered positive children's category comp sales growth and margin growth. Rogan's expanded both comparable sales and margins. Every banner stepped up when it mattered most. Let me walk through what drove these results and why it matters for our future. Three strategic decisions shaped our quarter and back-to-school success. First, we prioritized margin dollars over pursuing lower quality, lower profit sales. Second, we invested in inventory depth to improve availability for back-to-school. Third, we continued investing in our rebanner program despite market uncertainty. These choices are paying off. Q2 gross margins reached 38.8%. Speaker 200:03:16That 270 basis point expansion came from disciplined pricing, improved mix, and better inventory availability, not from deep discounting. The rebanner strategy contribution was significant. Shoe Station outperformed Shoe Carnival by over 10% on merchandise sales during Q2 and back to school. Beyond top-line sales gains, we're seeing a shift in demographics from Carnival's sub-$30,000 household towards Shoe Station's over $50,000 range. This evolution in customer mix is driving improved economics across the portfolio and reducing the corporation's exposure to economic downturns. These new Shoe Station households shop differently. They purchase premium brands and build higher-priced baskets. The result, product margins expanded 280 basis points at Shoe Station in Q2 plus fiscal August versus the prior year. Speaker 200:04:21Carnival and Rogan's both expanded margins too, but the new customer buying higher-priced premium brands at Shoe Station is the big strategic win to highlight. All of this delivered $0.70 in EPS, beating expectations and giving us the confidence to raise our annual profit guidance range today. Turning to back to school, August was our first real test of Shoe Station at scale, and we passed convincingly. We ran one campaign idea across three banners with ruthless simplicity. We have the brands families want at prices that make sense. Heavy digital, strategic social, surgical television in rebanner markets. The fiscal August numbers were strong. Shoe Station grew comparable sales high single digits overall, driven by the children's category growing sales high singles with margin expansion and the adult athletics category growing sales in the low twenties, also with margin growth. Speaker 200:05:27Notably, Shoe Carnival delivered positive children's comp sales and margin growth for fiscal August back to school also, despite a challenging environment for the lower-income customer. Each banner contributed differently during back to school. Station attracted new, higher-income shoppers. Carnival competed effectively without sacrificing economics. Rogan started its rebannering efforts towards Shoe Station and migration toward the more accretive pricing strategy. Based on encouraging sales growth results during the Rogan's rebanner start, we extended the campaign into fall. Now let me review the latest details on our rebanner rollout progress, because this is where our strategy becomes reality. We acquired Shoe Station's 21 stores at the end of 2021. We entered fiscal 2025 with double the store count since the acquisition, with 42 Shoe Station stores, approximately 10% of our fleet. Through relentless execution, we're now at 87 Shoe Station stores, approximately 20% of the company. Speaker 200:06:40By the end of fiscal 2025, we'll operate 145 Shoe Station stores, approximately one-third of our entire fleet. By back to school 2026, we'll surpass 215 stores, 51% of the current fleet as Shoe Station. That's the tipping point where growth begins to overtake decline, and we become a different company. The performance gap is developing as we anticipated. Shoe Station rebanner sales are up 8% year to date through August, while Carnival comps declined high singles. The Shoe Station rebanners are generating product margins 270 basis points above prior year through August year to date. Importantly, we are growing sales with a more affluent target we aim to attract to Shoe Station, with sales now growing in the core demographic of over $50,000 household income. Shoe Station's back to school taught us valuable lessons. Speaker 200:07:44We won in athletics. We expanded margins across categories. We sharply grew our children's category penetration. But despite the growth achieved, we left sales on the table in the children's category. Too conservative on depth, not prominent enough in key store areas. Valuable insights captured. Now we know how to grow the children's category even higher next back to school. Rogan's continues to exceed expectations. August sales and product margin growth surpassed the metrics we set. Our response was decisive. Finish the rebanner process at all Rogan's locations to Shoe Station this year. The Station model works, the economics are proven. Wisconsin becomes our next Shoe Station stronghold to expand from. Let me address Shoe Carnival directly, as transparency here is important. Carnival's Q2 comps declined high single digits, though we saw sequential improvement from Q1 and sharp improvement at quarter end as back-to-school began. Speaker 200:08:52August showed further progress, delivering low single-digit declines, with growth in children's categories and solid athletic performance. The sub-$30,000 income consumer faces ongoing pressure. While we could pursue more aggressive promotions to drive traffic, we believe maintaining margin discipline is the right long-term decision versus propping up this customer segment we are strategically shifting away from. We're managing the Carnival banner as a cash generator during our transition to Shoe Station. Over each upcoming quarter, Carnival's percentage of our portfolio declines systematically. By back-to-school 2026, it will represent less than 49% of our company. This deliberate shift reduces our exposure to a more volatile consumer segment, while we diversify our customer base by building our premium banner. Our financial position gives us advantages many competitors do not have. Speaker 200:09:57As of fiscal August end, cash and securities are up double digits year over year at nearly $150 million. Debt is zero. While others navigate covenants and credit lines, we invest from strength. We are investing approximately $25 million this year in our rebanner strategy with an expected two- to three-year ROI payback, a strong payback model, and currently our highest profit return for our cash flow. We continue to evaluate acquisitions in a disciplined fashion. Our aim is to elevate our customer demographics, expand into new markets, and do so at a fair valuation. As announced after the Q1 call, I asked Kerry Jackson to return to my executive leadership team. Kerry's thirty-five years with the company and over twenty-five years as our CFO is a great asset to have back at my side. Speaker 200:10:55I'm excited about this extra horsepower supporting our strategic growth initiatives. On inventory, yes, we're heavy. This is strategy reflecting the macroeconomic volatility, not an accident. Our intentional inventory investment delivered sharply improved in-stock rates on key items during back to school versus last year. When demand spiked in August, we captured it and drove comp sales growth with accretive margins. That availability at a lower cost basis was a key element that drove our margin expansion and our Q2 earnings beat. We expect to normalize inventory levels in twenty twenty-six, with completion timing dependent on tariff and supply chain clarity, but understand this, with our balance sheet and our margin profile, carrying extra inventory that's selling profitably is a luxury problem. We'd rather have it and sell it than miss the sale entirely. Looking forward, our confidence is building on multiple fronts. Speaker 200:12:01Our rebanner strategy is delivering strong sales and margin growth. Gross profit margins are robust and on pace to exceed our high side guidance, given current trends... We tightened sales guidance to reflect Station's and Rogan's growth and Carnival's reality. Overall, we raised our annual EPS guidance range to reflect the Q2 profit beat and fiscal August comp growth results. Importantly, we can see the inflection point approaching. When Station hits 51% of our fleet next year, the math flips. Station growth begins to overtake Carnival decline. Median income customers overtake deep discount shoppers as our core. I'll now turn the call over to Patrick to walk through the detailed financials and updated outlook. Patrick? Speaker 400:12:55Thank you, Mark. Good morning, everyone. Let me provide additional detail on our second quarter and back-to-school financial performance and our updated fiscal 2025 outlook. Starting with our Q2 and August sales results. Second quarter net sales were $306.4 million, compared to $332.7 million in the prior year. The 7.9% change reflects our strategic focus on higher margin business as we transform our customer mix and banner portfolio. Our 7.5% comparable store sales decline includes approximately 100 basis points of impact from the 20 rebanners we completed this quarter. The divergent performance by banner in the quarter reinforces our rebanner strategy. Shoe Station sales grew 1.6%, with essentially flat comparable store sales. Through August year to date, Station rebanner comps are now up high single digits. Speaker 400:13:58In Q2, Shoe Carnival sales declined 10.1% as we maintain pricing discipline despite pressure on the low-income consumer. Shoe Carnival's high singles comp decline in the quarter was the main driver of our overall comparable store sales decrease. Rogan's delivered approximately $20 million in net sales, in line with our integration plans. Let me now provide some additional color on our performance by major footwear category during August, our highest sales month of the year. Total company comparable growth was achieved with mid-singles growth in children's and low singles growth in athletics. Shoe Station far outperformed the total company, achieving high singles growth in children's and low twenties growth in men's and women's athletics. Total company men's and women's non-athletics declined low singles, reflecting the strong athletic cycle we are in, with Station also in the low singles, outperforming Carnival. Now moving on to gross profit. Speaker 400:15:07Our gross profit margin of 38.8% represents a 270 basis point expansion versus last year. Let me break this down. Merchandise margins improved 390 basis points, driven by three factors: disciplined pricing strategy across all banners, favorable mix shift as Shoe Station grows, and strategic inventory investments that improved in stock rates. This more than offset 120 basis points of deleverage in buying, distribution, and occupancy costs. SG&A expenses were $93.6 million, or 30.6% of sales, compared to 27.1% last year. Approximately 200 basis points of this increase relates to our rebanner investments, with the remainder due to deleverage, partially offset by disciplined cost management. Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 25.9% versus 26.3% last year. Speaker 400:16:13Net income was $19.2 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, compared to $22.6 million, or $0.82 last year. Our Q2 2025 earnings included $0.21 of rebanner investments and otherwise exceeded the prior year by $0.09. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the quarter with $91.9 million in cash and marketable securities, up from $84.5 million last year. Following our strong August performance, cash and securities exceeded $148 million, up over 10% versus prior year, and we continue to operate debt-free. Inventory at quarter end was $449 million, up 5% versus last year. This strategic investment delivered the product availability that drove our margin expansion and positive comps during back-to-school. Speaker 400:17:15Year to date, capital expenditures total $24.4 million, with approximately $20 million funding our 44 rebanner conversions. Let me provide more detail on our rebanner economics. The $0.21 second quarter EPS impact includes store closure costs, 4-6 weeks of lost sales during conversion, additional depreciation, customer acquisition costs, and grand opening expenses. Year to date, we've absorbed $0.36 of EPS impact. We now expect approximately $0.70 for the full year or about $25 million in operating income impact. Given the margin increases and high single-digit comp lifts we are achieving, these investments are a compelling use of our resources. Now turning to our updated fiscal 2025 outlook. Based on our second quarter outperformance and positive August momentum, we are raising several key metrics. Speaker 400:18:16Net sales guidance is now $1.12-$1.15 billion, tightened from our previous range. This implies significant sequential improvement in the back half, with comparable store sales improving from down high single digits in Q2 to down low single digits in the back half of the year. This improvement reflects a growing Shoe Station mix and strong event period performance, including August's positive comparable sales. We're raising the EPS guidance range from $1.70 to $2.10, increasing the low end by $0.10. This reflects our Q2 beat and confidence in sustained margin expansion. The wide EPS range reflects macro uncertainty and expected traffic volatility outside key selling periods. Speaker 400:19:11Gross profit margin guidance increases 150 basis points to 36.5% to 37.5%, reflecting the structural margin improvement from rebanners and disciplined pricing. SG&A is expected to be $355 million-$360 million, including the increased rebanner investment. Capital expenditures are expected to be $45 million-$55 million, with $30 million-$35 million for rebanners. For the third quarter specifically, we expect net sales of $290 million-$300 million and EPS of $0.50-$0.55. In closing, we are successfully evolving our business mix toward higher margin categories and customers. Our rebanner investments are generating strong returns, and our balance sheet provides the flexibility to execute our rebanner strategy while remaining opportunistic on acquisitions. I'll now turn it back over to Mark for closing remarks. Speaker 200:20:18Before opening for Q&A, let me briefly summarize where we are. We delivered $0.70 EPS in Q2, beating expectations by over 20%, with gross margins at 38.8%, our highest Q2 margin in years. That 270 basis point expansion came from strategic choices that are working. We increased our annual EPS guidance range today, reflecting the Q2 beat and fiscal August results. Fiscal August delivered something significant. We achieved positive comparable sales growth during back-to-school, our highest stakes period. Shoe Station grew sales high single digits. Carnival delivered positive children's comps. Rogan's grew sales and margins while being rebannered. Every banner contributed when it mattered most. Our rebanner strategy is working. Station outperformed carnival merchandise sales by over 10% in Q2 and fiscal August. Product margin, resulting from our rebanner strategy, expanded nearly 300 basis points. Speaker 200:21:26We'll operate a hundred and forty-five Shoe Station stores by year-end, on track for majority Shoe Station by next back-to-school. We set out to build a company that serves median income families with better brands and better experiences. That company is no longer a concept. It's operating, it's growing, and it's delivering. With that, Patrick, Tanya, and I would be happy to take your questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A. Speaker 300:21:57If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Mitch Kummetz with Seaport Research Partners. You may go ahead. Speaker 500:22:11Excuse me. Yeah, thanks for taking my questions. Got maybe a handful. I'm, first of all, Mark, I'm curious on the second quarter, you know, your sales came a little below plan, but obviously your gross margins were well ahead of plan. You talked about prioritizing margin dollars. I'm just curious, is there something about the quarter that was a bit unexpected, or did you kinda change your priorities in the quarter in order to kinda achieve the results that you did that were a bit different than what you kinda laid out three months ago? Speaker 200:22:45Hi, Mitch. Thanks for the question. You know, I think the opportunistic buys and additional inventory that the team brought in performed better than we expected. We captured, you know, success at a lower cost basis and strength at a higher margin run first. Second, the Shoe Station performance continues to accelerate and, you know, as that grows towards a higher percent of our mix, that's helping us drive our margins higher than we expected. And third, we continue to see competitors do irrational things related to pricing, and we believe that's not the strategy for us. We stayed true while others were doing very aggressive, profit-dilutive activities before back-to-school. Speaker 200:23:38We stayed true and steady to our focus of where we're gonna be ready to deliver growth when the customer is ready to shop profitably during back to school, and it delivered, with comparable growth coming in Q3 right away as soon as back to school started. It was an exciting period of time. Speaker 500:23:58And then Patrick, on the third quarter, you gave us guidance in terms of sales and earnings. Is there anything more you can say in terms of kind of what your comp expectations are for the quarter and then also, you know, margins, growth versus SG&A? Speaker 400:24:15Hey, Mitch, thanks for the question. Yeah, there's a little bit more detail that we can provide on our third quarter results. First, on our sales, the $290 million-$300 million range that we've given is down 2% to down 5%, so midpoint somewhere in the 3% range, similar to our annual guide in the back half of the year. We don't have any meaningful difference in stores, so our comp would be very similar to our total sales on that front. With respect to margin, we earned 36% in the quarter last year. We would expect a number that is 100 to 150 basis points above that in Q3 this year. Speaker 400:25:00So targeting a number of like 37 to 37.5%, would be the thought process. SG&A, I think the best way to think about that is a pure number that is $95 million, so consistent with what we spent in Q2, which was about $94 million. Speaker 500:25:26That's very helpful. And then just as a follow-up to that, I mean, it sounds like August is off to a very good... three Q is off to a very good start, given August. Can you just maybe talk through kind of your expectations for the balance of the quarter in order to get to sales down two to five? Speaker 400:25:43Sure. That's a pretty easy take to make for us. The low end of our range at $290 million would assume comparable sales and total sales declines in the high singles, consistent with what we've seen in the first half of the year. And then at the low side of it, we see a number that is more flat. But the midpoint is, you know, this 3% sort of decline, which is a meaningful improvement from where we've been in the first half of the year. Speaker 500:26:22Mark, you made a comment in your prepared remarks that you're managing Shoe Carnival as a cash generator. Can you just elaborate on that? Speaker 200:26:34Yeah, I think that comes back to our margin integrity and not chasing traffic gains at any cost for that sub-$30,000 household. You know, we're seeing the competitive set go after that low-income, strapped household with very aggressive pricing activity that's eroding margins and delivering different outcomes than we just put up with, say, our 270 basis point growth in Q2. That was discipline. We think that's the right thing, as we're strategically moving away from that sub-$30,000 household. Instead of propping that up, chasing unprofitable, low-quality sales now, we decided, and we'll continue to decide with Shoe Carnival, not to prop up that segment. So we will expect to see in our guidance, you know, that lower-income customer choosing to shop elsewhere, and that median income household shopper, $50,000 and up, choosing to shop at us. Speaker 200:27:35It's profitable, it's where we're heading, and it's the strategic path. With that, Shoe Carnival throws off very strong cash characteristics, and as, you know, we shared, cash up sharply as we sit here today, positioning us to fund fully our growth initiatives, to fund fully this transition to Shoe Station, the median customer, and to be ready for further strategic, you know, initiatives as they arise. Speaker 500:28:07And then maybe last for me, you mentioned that once Shoe Station gets to, like, 51% of your store base, kind of the model flips. You know, that would happen kind of midway through next year. Does that mean that the impact of the re-bannering is kind of neutral to next year's earnings? Because, you know, whatever drag that you see in the first half, you know, gets offset by, you know, a tailwind in the back half. How should we think about that? I know you're not giving next year guidance yet, but if you could just kind of, kind of walk us through that intuitively. Speaker 200:28:47I can give you broad strokes. As you said, we're not ready to provide the full financial thought on it, but you got it right. We believe when we hit 51% of our fleet is operating as Shoe Station, next back to school, we start seeing sustained comp positive versus sporadic, which we're delivering now in key event periods. We think about it in our early planning, that the back half of next year is where we start showing a comp positive for the total corporation for the Q3, Q4 period. Shoe Carnival will still represent a significant percent, and we still expect that will be a headwind from that lower-income customer. We're not anticipating high- or mid-single-digit comp in the back half of the year, but rather, it turns that inflection point to, you know, low singles, just barely comp. Speaker 200:29:39That's something to build on as we continue the transition. Financially, we're not really ready to share, you know, broader thoughts on that, beyond that comp directional concept and the rebannering fact of, you know, a significant amount in the guide would be rebannered in Q1 and Q2, and those financial implications will provide more guidance, you know, as we get further along this year. Speaker 500:30:06All right. That's helpful. Thanks, and good luck. Speaker 200:30:08Thank you, Mitch. Speaker 300:30:10Your next question comes from the line of Sam Poser with Williams Trading. You may go ahead. Operator00:30:16Good morning. Mitch, got to a couple of mine. I'd like to talk to you about the inventory levels and the gross margin guidance and get some color on maybe where inventories are at the end of August, and, you know, just looking at the 3Q guidance and the gross margin guidance there, you know, it looks like, you know, you'll sell $60-$70 million of cost of goods in 3Q in August, give or take, but you have $449 million of inventory on hand. How do you keep the gross margin guidance as high as it is with all this inventory? Doesn't the rubber have to hit the road sometime? Speaker 100:31:11Hi, Sam, it's Tanya. Just to expand on your question, in terms of inventory at the end of August, to answer your question, it's really in line with where we ended Q2, up mid-single. And we strategically went after inventory to build for back to school, which helped us deliver that comp growth in the month of August. We also worked through and bought opportunistic buys, which we're carrying in that inventory. So that number that you see in terms of inventory is opportunistic buys that will carry until we get to spring of twenty twenty-six. So that's just carrying through. And then the balance where we built... Speaker 100:31:55We built in sandals in opportunistic buys for 2026, and then the other place that we're carrying additional inventory is in the athletic business, specifically in kids' athletics, because we built that for back to school, which again helped us deliver that comp growth in the month of August. And those are all in key items, high margining styles that will carry all the way through the season. We recognize we have more inventory than we would like to, but we strategically did that for better margin opportunities and growth as we work through third quarter into the balance of the year. Speaker 100:32:38Then on the margin side of the equation, Mark spoke to that, but again, we continue to see better margins based on the opportunistic buys that we've done, our disciplined pricing, which we will strategically be disciplined through the balance of the year, and the key item position that we have this year, and the better key item position that we're in this year than we've ever been. Operator00:33:08Just to follow up, you. So we know a hard number. The inventory was $449 million. That's a hard number that can tell us what's happening. Is that what is the number? I mean, I don't know, since we don't know what the mid-single-digit increase year over year means, is what I mean, what is the number? Is it higher or lower than $449? Is it, since you had a strong August, is that now at $420? You know, 'cause it's really what the number is, not what the increase is. It's looking forward, not looking backward. Speaker 200:33:49Sam, it's Mark. We're not gonna give an interim inventory for right this second. Books aren't closed, you know, for all that we're sharing. Sales are closed for fiscal August, and we're really delighted to be able to give the full back-to-school growth and margins closed. We're really delighted to be able to share that and the category information. Here's the message on inventory: We have too much, as I said in my speech, and as Tanya said, we have it in places we feel good about delivering strong margins as we work through the fall season, the spring season, and the key items. Next year, once we have complete clarity or better clarity on the supply chain and tariffs, we will be working through and normalizing inventory levels. Speaker 200:34:32But we do not see that, margin erosion becoming relevant in this fiscal year, and we do not see that product being margin deteriorating next year. It's good product. Operator00:34:48Okay, and then just a little question. Are you guys gonna see Jordan product for spring 2026? And you know, with the Shoe Carnival business pumping down, you know, high singles, could we assume that there are brands such as Birkenstock and Skechers and others that were probably significantly better or possibly up, and it was a lot of the real low-end, moderate, non-branded products that really drove the comp down because even the lower income customers want those sort of high-in-demand brands? Speaker 200:35:37Yeah, I'm gonna grab that, Sam. We're not gonna share with our competitors what new products are coming in. I have great confidence. We have outstanding, exciting brands that will be on our sales floor in early twenty twenty-six, but I'm not gonna share what those are with our competitive set to think about that. On the, you know, second part of that question, our higher ticket items, best brands in the world, whether that's a foot bed or an athletic in performance, performing outstanding. We've seen those drive the results. We're seeing those lead to capturing the higher income customer, to delivering sales growth, to delivering margin growth. Without a doubt, it's tight focus on the best brands in select segments and not private label. Speaker 200:36:30It's been a winning recipe for us, being a retailer and not a manufacturer, and we're seeing that play out incredibly well at this point of time. While others navigate their covenants and manufacturing, we just stay focused on buying the world's best brands and delivering margin growth. Operator00:36:50Thanks. And then lastly, how are you seeing, like, how are the brands in general taking price? What are you seeing from price increases going into, you know, for the balance of this year and going into next year due to the tariff impact from your, you know, your wholesale partners? Speaker 100:37:10Hi, Sam. Just recently, it had been a little quiet because we're on a 90-day pause with China right now, so China at 30%. But when they came back with the Vietnam, with the additional 10, so it was 10 on top of 10, we're starting to get some more increases there. So as we move into spring, we're looking at price increases between 5% and 7% in total, based on what we've gotten back thus far. Operator00:37:39Okay, thanks very much. Speaker 300:37:45Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone pad. There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back over to Mark Worden for closing remarks. Speaker 200:38:02Thank you all for joining us for our second quarter call. We're excited about the progress we're seeing with our growth strategy and look forward to discussing it in greater depth with you at our Q3 call later this year. Speaker 300:38:19That concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect.Read morePowered by Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Shoe Carnival Earnings Headlines1 consumer stock with impressive fundamentals and 2 that underwhelmMay 1, 2026 | msn.com1 value stock on our buy list and 2 we avoidApril 21, 2026 | msn.comSpaceX IPO hides a much bigger storyThe SpaceX IPO could be the biggest in history at $1.75 trillion - but the real story isn't the IPO itself. Elon believes what Michael Robinson calls 'Project Unlimited' could unlock $100 trillion in potential growth. One little-known company sits at the center of it all, and most investors have no idea it exists. Position yourself before this company potentially hits the front page.May 6 at 1:00 AM | Weiss Ratings (Ad)At US$18.17, Is It Time To Put Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCVL) On Your Watch List?April 16, 2026 | finance.yahoo.com3 Reasons SCVL is Risky and 1 Stock to Buy InsteadApril 8, 2026 | finance.yahoo.comPetco and Shoe Carnival shares skyrocket, what you need to knowApril 8, 2026 | msn.comSee More Shoe Carnival Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Shoe Carnival? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Shoe Carnival and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Shoe CarnivalShoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) (NASDAQ: SCVL) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer offering a broad assortment of footwear, apparel and accessories for the entire family. Through its network of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platform, the company provides casual, athletic and dress shoes for men, women and children, as well as complementary apparel, handbags, socks and other accessories designed to deliver value and variety. Its distinctive in-store carnival host service model aims to create an engaging shopping experience and foster customer loyalty. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, Shoe Carnival has expanded over four decades to operate more than 350 retail locations across over 30 states. The company’s stores are typically situated in regional shopping centers, providing convenient access to a wide demographic of families and budget-minded consumers. In addition to its physical presence, Shoe Carnival’s online channel supports nationwide shipping and periodic promotions aimed at driving both traffic and sales conversion in the digital marketplace. Since its initial public offering in the early 1990s, Shoe Carnival has focused on balancing everyday value with an engaging retail environment. Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Scott N. Motter, the company continues to evolve its merchandise mix, optimize store formats and enhance omnichannel capabilities. With a multidecade track record in family footwear retailing, Shoe Carnival seeks to capitalize on its brand recognition, operational expertise and customer-centric service model to support sustainable growth.View Shoe Carnival ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Latest Articles BlackBerry Rewrites Its Own Operating SystemGrab Holdings Faces Hurdles, But Upside Potential Is Hard to IgnorePalantir Drops After a Blowout Q1—What Investors Should KnowShopify’s Valuation Crisis Creates Opportunity in 2026onsemi Stock Dips After Earnings: Why the Dip Is BuyableTSLA: 3 Reasons the Stock Could Hit $400 in MayNebius Breaks Out to All-Time Highs—Here's What's Driving It. 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There are 6 speakers on the call. Speaker 300:00:00Good morning, and welcome to Shoe Carnival's second quarter, twenty twenty-five conference call. Today's conference call is being recorded and is also being broadcast via webcast. Any reproduction or rebroadcast of any portion of this call is expressly prohibited. Management's remarks today may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risk factors. These risk factors could cause the company's actual results to be materially different from those projected in such statements. Forward-looking statements should also be considered in conjunction with the discussion of risk factors included in the company's SEC filings and today's earnings press release. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. Speaker 300:00:45The company disclaims any obligation to update any of the risk factors or to publicly announce any revisions to the forward-looking statements discussed on today's conference call or contained in today's press release to reflect future events or developments. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Mark Worden, President and CEO of Shoe Carnival, for opening remarks. Mr. Worden, you may begin. Speaker 200:01:09Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Shoe Carnival's second quarter, 2025 earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call are Patrick Edwards, Chief Financial Officer, and Tanya Gordon, Chief Merchandising Officer. Our second quarter results demonstrate meaningful progress on our corporate strategy. We beat earnings consensus by over 20% and expanded gross margins 270 basis points to 38.8%, our strongest Q2 margin in years. Our rebanner strategy is exceeding targets. EPS declined year over year from our planned rebanner investments, as expected, but margins expanded faster than planned, driving our strong earnings beat for the quarter. Since our last call, we've completed our back-to-school season, the period that defines our year. Fiscal August represents less than 8% of our days, but drives approximately 25% of our annual profits. Speaker 200:02:11As we moved into back-to-school in August, we achieved a significant milestone. The company returned to positive comparable sales growth for this must-win period. Shoe Station grew sales high single digits and expanded margins. Shoe Carnival delivered positive children's category comp sales growth and margin growth. Rogan's expanded both comparable sales and margins. Every banner stepped up when it mattered most. Let me walk through what drove these results and why it matters for our future. Three strategic decisions shaped our quarter and back-to-school success. First, we prioritized margin dollars over pursuing lower quality, lower profit sales. Second, we invested in inventory depth to improve availability for back-to-school. Third, we continued investing in our rebanner program despite market uncertainty. These choices are paying off. Q2 gross margins reached 38.8%. Speaker 200:03:16That 270 basis point expansion came from disciplined pricing, improved mix, and better inventory availability, not from deep discounting. The rebanner strategy contribution was significant. Shoe Station outperformed Shoe Carnival by over 10% on merchandise sales during Q2 and back to school. Beyond top-line sales gains, we're seeing a shift in demographics from Carnival's sub-$30,000 household towards Shoe Station's over $50,000 range. This evolution in customer mix is driving improved economics across the portfolio and reducing the corporation's exposure to economic downturns. These new Shoe Station households shop differently. They purchase premium brands and build higher-priced baskets. The result, product margins expanded 280 basis points at Shoe Station in Q2 plus fiscal August versus the prior year. Speaker 200:04:21Carnival and Rogan's both expanded margins too, but the new customer buying higher-priced premium brands at Shoe Station is the big strategic win to highlight. All of this delivered $0.70 in EPS, beating expectations and giving us the confidence to raise our annual profit guidance range today. Turning to back to school, August was our first real test of Shoe Station at scale, and we passed convincingly. We ran one campaign idea across three banners with ruthless simplicity. We have the brands families want at prices that make sense. Heavy digital, strategic social, surgical television in rebanner markets. The fiscal August numbers were strong. Shoe Station grew comparable sales high single digits overall, driven by the children's category growing sales high singles with margin expansion and the adult athletics category growing sales in the low twenties, also with margin growth. Speaker 200:05:27Notably, Shoe Carnival delivered positive children's comp sales and margin growth for fiscal August back to school also, despite a challenging environment for the lower-income customer. Each banner contributed differently during back to school. Station attracted new, higher-income shoppers. Carnival competed effectively without sacrificing economics. Rogan started its rebannering efforts towards Shoe Station and migration toward the more accretive pricing strategy. Based on encouraging sales growth results during the Rogan's rebanner start, we extended the campaign into fall. Now let me review the latest details on our rebanner rollout progress, because this is where our strategy becomes reality. We acquired Shoe Station's 21 stores at the end of 2021. We entered fiscal 2025 with double the store count since the acquisition, with 42 Shoe Station stores, approximately 10% of our fleet. Through relentless execution, we're now at 87 Shoe Station stores, approximately 20% of the company. Speaker 200:06:40By the end of fiscal 2025, we'll operate 145 Shoe Station stores, approximately one-third of our entire fleet. By back to school 2026, we'll surpass 215 stores, 51% of the current fleet as Shoe Station. That's the tipping point where growth begins to overtake decline, and we become a different company. The performance gap is developing as we anticipated. Shoe Station rebanner sales are up 8% year to date through August, while Carnival comps declined high singles. The Shoe Station rebanners are generating product margins 270 basis points above prior year through August year to date. Importantly, we are growing sales with a more affluent target we aim to attract to Shoe Station, with sales now growing in the core demographic of over $50,000 household income. Shoe Station's back to school taught us valuable lessons. Speaker 200:07:44We won in athletics. We expanded margins across categories. We sharply grew our children's category penetration. But despite the growth achieved, we left sales on the table in the children's category. Too conservative on depth, not prominent enough in key store areas. Valuable insights captured. Now we know how to grow the children's category even higher next back to school. Rogan's continues to exceed expectations. August sales and product margin growth surpassed the metrics we set. Our response was decisive. Finish the rebanner process at all Rogan's locations to Shoe Station this year. The Station model works, the economics are proven. Wisconsin becomes our next Shoe Station stronghold to expand from. Let me address Shoe Carnival directly, as transparency here is important. Carnival's Q2 comps declined high single digits, though we saw sequential improvement from Q1 and sharp improvement at quarter end as back-to-school began. Speaker 200:08:52August showed further progress, delivering low single-digit declines, with growth in children's categories and solid athletic performance. The sub-$30,000 income consumer faces ongoing pressure. While we could pursue more aggressive promotions to drive traffic, we believe maintaining margin discipline is the right long-term decision versus propping up this customer segment we are strategically shifting away from. We're managing the Carnival banner as a cash generator during our transition to Shoe Station. Over each upcoming quarter, Carnival's percentage of our portfolio declines systematically. By back-to-school 2026, it will represent less than 49% of our company. This deliberate shift reduces our exposure to a more volatile consumer segment, while we diversify our customer base by building our premium banner. Our financial position gives us advantages many competitors do not have. Speaker 200:09:57As of fiscal August end, cash and securities are up double digits year over year at nearly $150 million. Debt is zero. While others navigate covenants and credit lines, we invest from strength. We are investing approximately $25 million this year in our rebanner strategy with an expected two- to three-year ROI payback, a strong payback model, and currently our highest profit return for our cash flow. We continue to evaluate acquisitions in a disciplined fashion. Our aim is to elevate our customer demographics, expand into new markets, and do so at a fair valuation. As announced after the Q1 call, I asked Kerry Jackson to return to my executive leadership team. Kerry's thirty-five years with the company and over twenty-five years as our CFO is a great asset to have back at my side. Speaker 200:10:55I'm excited about this extra horsepower supporting our strategic growth initiatives. On inventory, yes, we're heavy. This is strategy reflecting the macroeconomic volatility, not an accident. Our intentional inventory investment delivered sharply improved in-stock rates on key items during back to school versus last year. When demand spiked in August, we captured it and drove comp sales growth with accretive margins. That availability at a lower cost basis was a key element that drove our margin expansion and our Q2 earnings beat. We expect to normalize inventory levels in twenty twenty-six, with completion timing dependent on tariff and supply chain clarity, but understand this, with our balance sheet and our margin profile, carrying extra inventory that's selling profitably is a luxury problem. We'd rather have it and sell it than miss the sale entirely. Looking forward, our confidence is building on multiple fronts. Speaker 200:12:01Our rebanner strategy is delivering strong sales and margin growth. Gross profit margins are robust and on pace to exceed our high side guidance, given current trends... We tightened sales guidance to reflect Station's and Rogan's growth and Carnival's reality. Overall, we raised our annual EPS guidance range to reflect the Q2 profit beat and fiscal August comp growth results. Importantly, we can see the inflection point approaching. When Station hits 51% of our fleet next year, the math flips. Station growth begins to overtake Carnival decline. Median income customers overtake deep discount shoppers as our core. I'll now turn the call over to Patrick to walk through the detailed financials and updated outlook. Patrick? Speaker 400:12:55Thank you, Mark. Good morning, everyone. Let me provide additional detail on our second quarter and back-to-school financial performance and our updated fiscal 2025 outlook. Starting with our Q2 and August sales results. Second quarter net sales were $306.4 million, compared to $332.7 million in the prior year. The 7.9% change reflects our strategic focus on higher margin business as we transform our customer mix and banner portfolio. Our 7.5% comparable store sales decline includes approximately 100 basis points of impact from the 20 rebanners we completed this quarter. The divergent performance by banner in the quarter reinforces our rebanner strategy. Shoe Station sales grew 1.6%, with essentially flat comparable store sales. Through August year to date, Station rebanner comps are now up high single digits. Speaker 400:13:58In Q2, Shoe Carnival sales declined 10.1% as we maintain pricing discipline despite pressure on the low-income consumer. Shoe Carnival's high singles comp decline in the quarter was the main driver of our overall comparable store sales decrease. Rogan's delivered approximately $20 million in net sales, in line with our integration plans. Let me now provide some additional color on our performance by major footwear category during August, our highest sales month of the year. Total company comparable growth was achieved with mid-singles growth in children's and low singles growth in athletics. Shoe Station far outperformed the total company, achieving high singles growth in children's and low twenties growth in men's and women's athletics. Total company men's and women's non-athletics declined low singles, reflecting the strong athletic cycle we are in, with Station also in the low singles, outperforming Carnival. Now moving on to gross profit. Speaker 400:15:07Our gross profit margin of 38.8% represents a 270 basis point expansion versus last year. Let me break this down. Merchandise margins improved 390 basis points, driven by three factors: disciplined pricing strategy across all banners, favorable mix shift as Shoe Station grows, and strategic inventory investments that improved in stock rates. This more than offset 120 basis points of deleverage in buying, distribution, and occupancy costs. SG&A expenses were $93.6 million, or 30.6% of sales, compared to 27.1% last year. Approximately 200 basis points of this increase relates to our rebanner investments, with the remainder due to deleverage, partially offset by disciplined cost management. Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 25.9% versus 26.3% last year. Speaker 400:16:13Net income was $19.2 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, compared to $22.6 million, or $0.82 last year. Our Q2 2025 earnings included $0.21 of rebanner investments and otherwise exceeded the prior year by $0.09. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the quarter with $91.9 million in cash and marketable securities, up from $84.5 million last year. Following our strong August performance, cash and securities exceeded $148 million, up over 10% versus prior year, and we continue to operate debt-free. Inventory at quarter end was $449 million, up 5% versus last year. This strategic investment delivered the product availability that drove our margin expansion and positive comps during back-to-school. Speaker 400:17:15Year to date, capital expenditures total $24.4 million, with approximately $20 million funding our 44 rebanner conversions. Let me provide more detail on our rebanner economics. The $0.21 second quarter EPS impact includes store closure costs, 4-6 weeks of lost sales during conversion, additional depreciation, customer acquisition costs, and grand opening expenses. Year to date, we've absorbed $0.36 of EPS impact. We now expect approximately $0.70 for the full year or about $25 million in operating income impact. Given the margin increases and high single-digit comp lifts we are achieving, these investments are a compelling use of our resources. Now turning to our updated fiscal 2025 outlook. Based on our second quarter outperformance and positive August momentum, we are raising several key metrics. Speaker 400:18:16Net sales guidance is now $1.12-$1.15 billion, tightened from our previous range. This implies significant sequential improvement in the back half, with comparable store sales improving from down high single digits in Q2 to down low single digits in the back half of the year. This improvement reflects a growing Shoe Station mix and strong event period performance, including August's positive comparable sales. We're raising the EPS guidance range from $1.70 to $2.10, increasing the low end by $0.10. This reflects our Q2 beat and confidence in sustained margin expansion. The wide EPS range reflects macro uncertainty and expected traffic volatility outside key selling periods. Speaker 400:19:11Gross profit margin guidance increases 150 basis points to 36.5% to 37.5%, reflecting the structural margin improvement from rebanners and disciplined pricing. SG&A is expected to be $355 million-$360 million, including the increased rebanner investment. Capital expenditures are expected to be $45 million-$55 million, with $30 million-$35 million for rebanners. For the third quarter specifically, we expect net sales of $290 million-$300 million and EPS of $0.50-$0.55. In closing, we are successfully evolving our business mix toward higher margin categories and customers. Our rebanner investments are generating strong returns, and our balance sheet provides the flexibility to execute our rebanner strategy while remaining opportunistic on acquisitions. I'll now turn it back over to Mark for closing remarks. Speaker 200:20:18Before opening for Q&A, let me briefly summarize where we are. We delivered $0.70 EPS in Q2, beating expectations by over 20%, with gross margins at 38.8%, our highest Q2 margin in years. That 270 basis point expansion came from strategic choices that are working. We increased our annual EPS guidance range today, reflecting the Q2 beat and fiscal August results. Fiscal August delivered something significant. We achieved positive comparable sales growth during back-to-school, our highest stakes period. Shoe Station grew sales high single digits. Carnival delivered positive children's comps. Rogan's grew sales and margins while being rebannered. Every banner contributed when it mattered most. Our rebanner strategy is working. Station outperformed carnival merchandise sales by over 10% in Q2 and fiscal August. Product margin, resulting from our rebanner strategy, expanded nearly 300 basis points. Speaker 200:21:26We'll operate a hundred and forty-five Shoe Station stores by year-end, on track for majority Shoe Station by next back-to-school. We set out to build a company that serves median income families with better brands and better experiences. That company is no longer a concept. It's operating, it's growing, and it's delivering. With that, Patrick, Tanya, and I would be happy to take your questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A. Speaker 300:21:57If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Mitch Kummetz with Seaport Research Partners. You may go ahead. Speaker 500:22:11Excuse me. Yeah, thanks for taking my questions. Got maybe a handful. I'm, first of all, Mark, I'm curious on the second quarter, you know, your sales came a little below plan, but obviously your gross margins were well ahead of plan. You talked about prioritizing margin dollars. I'm just curious, is there something about the quarter that was a bit unexpected, or did you kinda change your priorities in the quarter in order to kinda achieve the results that you did that were a bit different than what you kinda laid out three months ago? Speaker 200:22:45Hi, Mitch. Thanks for the question. You know, I think the opportunistic buys and additional inventory that the team brought in performed better than we expected. We captured, you know, success at a lower cost basis and strength at a higher margin run first. Second, the Shoe Station performance continues to accelerate and, you know, as that grows towards a higher percent of our mix, that's helping us drive our margins higher than we expected. And third, we continue to see competitors do irrational things related to pricing, and we believe that's not the strategy for us. We stayed true while others were doing very aggressive, profit-dilutive activities before back-to-school. Speaker 200:23:38We stayed true and steady to our focus of where we're gonna be ready to deliver growth when the customer is ready to shop profitably during back to school, and it delivered, with comparable growth coming in Q3 right away as soon as back to school started. It was an exciting period of time. Speaker 500:23:58And then Patrick, on the third quarter, you gave us guidance in terms of sales and earnings. Is there anything more you can say in terms of kind of what your comp expectations are for the quarter and then also, you know, margins, growth versus SG&A? Speaker 400:24:15Hey, Mitch, thanks for the question. Yeah, there's a little bit more detail that we can provide on our third quarter results. First, on our sales, the $290 million-$300 million range that we've given is down 2% to down 5%, so midpoint somewhere in the 3% range, similar to our annual guide in the back half of the year. We don't have any meaningful difference in stores, so our comp would be very similar to our total sales on that front. With respect to margin, we earned 36% in the quarter last year. We would expect a number that is 100 to 150 basis points above that in Q3 this year. Speaker 400:25:00So targeting a number of like 37 to 37.5%, would be the thought process. SG&A, I think the best way to think about that is a pure number that is $95 million, so consistent with what we spent in Q2, which was about $94 million. Speaker 500:25:26That's very helpful. And then just as a follow-up to that, I mean, it sounds like August is off to a very good... three Q is off to a very good start, given August. Can you just maybe talk through kind of your expectations for the balance of the quarter in order to get to sales down two to five? Speaker 400:25:43Sure. That's a pretty easy take to make for us. The low end of our range at $290 million would assume comparable sales and total sales declines in the high singles, consistent with what we've seen in the first half of the year. And then at the low side of it, we see a number that is more flat. But the midpoint is, you know, this 3% sort of decline, which is a meaningful improvement from where we've been in the first half of the year. Speaker 500:26:22Mark, you made a comment in your prepared remarks that you're managing Shoe Carnival as a cash generator. Can you just elaborate on that? Speaker 200:26:34Yeah, I think that comes back to our margin integrity and not chasing traffic gains at any cost for that sub-$30,000 household. You know, we're seeing the competitive set go after that low-income, strapped household with very aggressive pricing activity that's eroding margins and delivering different outcomes than we just put up with, say, our 270 basis point growth in Q2. That was discipline. We think that's the right thing, as we're strategically moving away from that sub-$30,000 household. Instead of propping that up, chasing unprofitable, low-quality sales now, we decided, and we'll continue to decide with Shoe Carnival, not to prop up that segment. So we will expect to see in our guidance, you know, that lower-income customer choosing to shop elsewhere, and that median income household shopper, $50,000 and up, choosing to shop at us. Speaker 200:27:35It's profitable, it's where we're heading, and it's the strategic path. With that, Shoe Carnival throws off very strong cash characteristics, and as, you know, we shared, cash up sharply as we sit here today, positioning us to fund fully our growth initiatives, to fund fully this transition to Shoe Station, the median customer, and to be ready for further strategic, you know, initiatives as they arise. Speaker 500:28:07And then maybe last for me, you mentioned that once Shoe Station gets to, like, 51% of your store base, kind of the model flips. You know, that would happen kind of midway through next year. Does that mean that the impact of the re-bannering is kind of neutral to next year's earnings? Because, you know, whatever drag that you see in the first half, you know, gets offset by, you know, a tailwind in the back half. How should we think about that? I know you're not giving next year guidance yet, but if you could just kind of, kind of walk us through that intuitively. Speaker 200:28:47I can give you broad strokes. As you said, we're not ready to provide the full financial thought on it, but you got it right. We believe when we hit 51% of our fleet is operating as Shoe Station, next back to school, we start seeing sustained comp positive versus sporadic, which we're delivering now in key event periods. We think about it in our early planning, that the back half of next year is where we start showing a comp positive for the total corporation for the Q3, Q4 period. Shoe Carnival will still represent a significant percent, and we still expect that will be a headwind from that lower-income customer. We're not anticipating high- or mid-single-digit comp in the back half of the year, but rather, it turns that inflection point to, you know, low singles, just barely comp. Speaker 200:29:39That's something to build on as we continue the transition. Financially, we're not really ready to share, you know, broader thoughts on that, beyond that comp directional concept and the rebannering fact of, you know, a significant amount in the guide would be rebannered in Q1 and Q2, and those financial implications will provide more guidance, you know, as we get further along this year. Speaker 500:30:06All right. That's helpful. Thanks, and good luck. Speaker 200:30:08Thank you, Mitch. Speaker 300:30:10Your next question comes from the line of Sam Poser with Williams Trading. You may go ahead. Operator00:30:16Good morning. Mitch, got to a couple of mine. I'd like to talk to you about the inventory levels and the gross margin guidance and get some color on maybe where inventories are at the end of August, and, you know, just looking at the 3Q guidance and the gross margin guidance there, you know, it looks like, you know, you'll sell $60-$70 million of cost of goods in 3Q in August, give or take, but you have $449 million of inventory on hand. How do you keep the gross margin guidance as high as it is with all this inventory? Doesn't the rubber have to hit the road sometime? Speaker 100:31:11Hi, Sam, it's Tanya. Just to expand on your question, in terms of inventory at the end of August, to answer your question, it's really in line with where we ended Q2, up mid-single. And we strategically went after inventory to build for back to school, which helped us deliver that comp growth in the month of August. We also worked through and bought opportunistic buys, which we're carrying in that inventory. So that number that you see in terms of inventory is opportunistic buys that will carry until we get to spring of twenty twenty-six. So that's just carrying through. And then the balance where we built... Speaker 100:31:55We built in sandals in opportunistic buys for 2026, and then the other place that we're carrying additional inventory is in the athletic business, specifically in kids' athletics, because we built that for back to school, which again helped us deliver that comp growth in the month of August. And those are all in key items, high margining styles that will carry all the way through the season. We recognize we have more inventory than we would like to, but we strategically did that for better margin opportunities and growth as we work through third quarter into the balance of the year. Speaker 100:32:38Then on the margin side of the equation, Mark spoke to that, but again, we continue to see better margins based on the opportunistic buys that we've done, our disciplined pricing, which we will strategically be disciplined through the balance of the year, and the key item position that we have this year, and the better key item position that we're in this year than we've ever been. Operator00:33:08Just to follow up, you. So we know a hard number. The inventory was $449 million. That's a hard number that can tell us what's happening. Is that what is the number? I mean, I don't know, since we don't know what the mid-single-digit increase year over year means, is what I mean, what is the number? Is it higher or lower than $449? Is it, since you had a strong August, is that now at $420? You know, 'cause it's really what the number is, not what the increase is. It's looking forward, not looking backward. Speaker 200:33:49Sam, it's Mark. We're not gonna give an interim inventory for right this second. Books aren't closed, you know, for all that we're sharing. Sales are closed for fiscal August, and we're really delighted to be able to give the full back-to-school growth and margins closed. We're really delighted to be able to share that and the category information. Here's the message on inventory: We have too much, as I said in my speech, and as Tanya said, we have it in places we feel good about delivering strong margins as we work through the fall season, the spring season, and the key items. Next year, once we have complete clarity or better clarity on the supply chain and tariffs, we will be working through and normalizing inventory levels. Speaker 200:34:32But we do not see that, margin erosion becoming relevant in this fiscal year, and we do not see that product being margin deteriorating next year. It's good product. Operator00:34:48Okay, and then just a little question. Are you guys gonna see Jordan product for spring 2026? And you know, with the Shoe Carnival business pumping down, you know, high singles, could we assume that there are brands such as Birkenstock and Skechers and others that were probably significantly better or possibly up, and it was a lot of the real low-end, moderate, non-branded products that really drove the comp down because even the lower income customers want those sort of high-in-demand brands? Speaker 200:35:37Yeah, I'm gonna grab that, Sam. We're not gonna share with our competitors what new products are coming in. I have great confidence. We have outstanding, exciting brands that will be on our sales floor in early twenty twenty-six, but I'm not gonna share what those are with our competitive set to think about that. On the, you know, second part of that question, our higher ticket items, best brands in the world, whether that's a foot bed or an athletic in performance, performing outstanding. We've seen those drive the results. We're seeing those lead to capturing the higher income customer, to delivering sales growth, to delivering margin growth. Without a doubt, it's tight focus on the best brands in select segments and not private label. Speaker 200:36:30It's been a winning recipe for us, being a retailer and not a manufacturer, and we're seeing that play out incredibly well at this point of time. While others navigate their covenants and manufacturing, we just stay focused on buying the world's best brands and delivering margin growth. Operator00:36:50Thanks. And then lastly, how are you seeing, like, how are the brands in general taking price? What are you seeing from price increases going into, you know, for the balance of this year and going into next year due to the tariff impact from your, you know, your wholesale partners? Speaker 100:37:10Hi, Sam. Just recently, it had been a little quiet because we're on a 90-day pause with China right now, so China at 30%. But when they came back with the Vietnam, with the additional 10, so it was 10 on top of 10, we're starting to get some more increases there. So as we move into spring, we're looking at price increases between 5% and 7% in total, based on what we've gotten back thus far. Operator00:37:39Okay, thanks very much. Speaker 300:37:45Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone pad. There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back over to Mark Worden for closing remarks. Speaker 200:38:02Thank you all for joining us for our second quarter call. We're excited about the progress we're seeing with our growth strategy and look forward to discussing it in greater depth with you at our Q3 call later this year. Speaker 300:38:19That concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect.Read morePowered by