Shoe Carnival steps it up in Q1

Improved merchandising and e-commerce initiatives helped Shoe Carnival post first quarter gains in profits, earnings and sales.

The company reported that net sales increased $17 million to a first quarter record of $252.8 million, as compared to net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Same store sales increased 3%. Earnings per diluted share for the first quarter increased 15.6% to 52 cents.

“We are pleased with our comparable store sales growth and our ability to deliver strong first quarter earnings," saidCliff Sifford, president and CEO. "While the quarter started off very challenging due to adverse weather, with over 400 days of store closures, the consumer responded favorably to our family footwear assortment, which resulted in a comparable store sales increase across all footwear departments and in each of our geographic regions. In addition, our initiative launched in fiscal 2014 to bring fulfillment of our e-commerce orders in-house has continued to pay dividends as our customers continued to take advantage of the increase in both selection and depth of sizes available to them online.”

The company said it expects fiscal 2015 net sales to be in the range of $977 million to $991 million, with a same store sales increase in the range of 1.5% to 3%. Earnings per diluted share for the fiscal year are expected to be in the range of $1.42 to $1.48.

Shoe Carnival has more than 380 stores throughout the Midwest, South, and Southeast regions.