Caleres' e-commerce sales help increase revenues in Q1

By

Emily Jensen

Published
May 25, 2017

The Missouri-based footwear company saw net sales increase 8 percent to $631.5 million. The brand expects revenues to reach $2.7 to $2.8 billion for the total year.

 
Caleres’ sales were buoyed by increases in e-commerce. Its Famous Footwear brand saw same store sales fall .6 percent, however total sales increased .5 percent, with online sales increasing by 25.7 percent to comprise 5.7 percent of total sales. E-commerce sales for its other brands also increased 56.3 percent to represent 25.8 percent of sales
 
“Our first quarter results – including 8 percent sales growth and more than 50 basis points of gross margin improvement – provided a solid start to the year, despite the continued tough retail environment,” said Diane Sullivan, CEO, president and chairman of Caleres.

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Sullivan also attributed some of the increase in sales to the company’s recent acquisition of upscale shoe brand Alan Edmonds. The acquisition of that brand resulted in a $25 million loan, which chief financial officer Ken Hannah says should be paid off by the end of the year. Caleres’ most prominent brand remains Famous Footwear, which operates more than 1,000 stores across the U.S.
 
The footwear company made two significant leadership changes earlier this year, appointing Karlyn Mattson as chief merchandising officer and Chris Cavalline the senior vice president of e-commerce. It also added MediaLink Vice Chairman Wenda Harris Millard and MagicLeap Chief Marketing Officer Brenda Freeman to its board of directors last month.