Famous Footwear’s new partnership with Jordan Brand started to pay off in the second quarter.
Jay Schmidt, president and chief executive officer of Famous Footwear parent Caleres, told analysts on the company’s second quarter earnings call on Thursday that Jordan quickly became a top 10 brand at Famous Footwear during back-to-school. (For back-to-school, Famous Footwear secured Jordan Brand as an all-door exclusive for the shoe chain channel across men’s, women’s, kids and accessories.)
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“This performance reinforces Famous’ ability to launch leading brands successfully and deliver powerful results,” the CEO said. “We will continue to drive Jordan and other trending and highly demanded brands as we move forward into fall.”
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Schmidt added that during Q2, men’s shoes performed best at Famous Footwear, while kids’ footwear was in-line with market trends. However, women’s shoe sales underperformed at the retail chain. By category, athletic footwear was nearly flat on a comp basis and fashion declined.
Jordan, Adidas, Birkenstock, New Balance, Asics, Reef and Brooks were top growth brands in the quarter, while Caleres brands outperformed at Famous Footwear with flat comp sales, Schmidt noted.
“In addition to Jordan for back-to-school, we added expanded or new assortments from Nike, Adidas, Birkenstock, New Balance, Brooks, Timberland and Frye,” Schmidt said. “These brands, and our other top national brands, drove back-to-school comp sales up 1 percent in August on top of a high single-digit comp in August of last year.”
The CEO added that the growth these brands have seen is proof that customers at Famous Footwear are seeking national brands with high demand. “These brands have great meaning to them, and they’re purchasing them over others,” Schmidt said. “So, we’re continuing to see that as a trend, and we’re going to be watching the consumer health very closely.”
This comes as the St. Louis-based company said on Thursday that net earnings in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 were $6.71 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, down from $29.96 million, or 85 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2024. Net sales totaled $658.52 million, down 3.6 percent from $683.32 million the same time last year.
By segment, Famous Footwear saw net sales decrease 4.9 percent, with comparable sales down 3.4 percent in the second quarter. Caleres’ brand portfolio division reported a net sales decline of 3.5 percent in the period.
Looking ahead, Caleres said it will continue to suspend annual guidance given broader economic uncertainty.