Shoe Carnival

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival Inc. is collaborating with the Lifetime show “Devious Maids” to further promote the company’s first national, integrated advertising campaign. Shoe Carnival’s national campaign with “Devious Maids” and new tagline “A Surprise in Store” will run on national cable with on-air, in-store and social support.

The advertising campaign coincides with the season two premiere of the series “Devious Maids,” which will debut on April 20.

Atlanta -- Footwear retailer Shoe Carnival on April 6 will launch its first integrated national advertising campaign in support of the spring season. The campaign accompanies the brand’s U.S. expansion and debuts a new tagline, "A surprise in store."

Bad weather and a tepid economy claimed another retail victim on Thursday as family footwear retailer Shoe Carnival posted weak sales and profits.

The operator of 379 stores said sales during its 13 week fourth quarter ended February 1 fell to $200.3 million compared to $205.7 million during the 14 week fourth quarter the prior year. Same store sales declined 2.5%. Profits during the period fell more sharply to $600,000, or three cents a share, from $3.2 million, or 13 cents a share the prior year, as gross margins contracted to 28.5% from 29.3%.

Evansville, Ind. – Shoe Carnival had a generally disappointing third quarter fiscal 2013, with net income falling 11% to $10.9 million from $12.2 million. Net sales also declined 3.5%, from $244.4 million to $235.8 million.

Shoe Carnival attributed part of the year-over-year decline to a shift from a 53-week to a 52-week fiscal year, which resulted in one fewer week of back-to-school shopping activity in the third quarter and about $21.2 million less in sales.

Despite challenges in the overall consumer discretionary spending environment, Shoe Carnival saw sales increases for the second quarter ended Aug. 3, which coincided with the back-to-school season, driven primarily by its selection of women’s seasonal and children’s footwear.

The leading retailer of value-priced footwear and accessories reported net sales of $216.4 million for the quarter, an 18.8% increase from $182.2 million for the year-ago quarter. Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 2.6%.

Spokane, Wash. -- Ecova, a total energy and sustainability management company, has been selected by specialty retailers Shoe Carnival and Five Below to provide utility expense and data management services. Ecova will assist the chains in monitoring, understanding and reducing energy across their portfolios.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Shoe Carnival has appointed Kent Zimmerman as VP of e-commerce. Zimmerman will oversee the company’s e-commerce and omnichannel strategies.

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival said Thursday it has named Kent Zimmerman as VP e-commerce, effective June 3.

Zimmerman, who comes to the footwear retailer from global systems integration and solutions provider Optaros, is charged with overseeing Shoe Carvinal’s e-commerce and omni-channel strategies.

“We believe Shoe Carnival has a tremendous opportunity to grow our e-commerce and overall omni-channel presence in the family footwear industry,” said Cliff Sifford, president and CEO. “