Designer Brands reports Q2 sales decline

Designer Brands Inc., the Columbus, Ohio-based owner of the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, The Shoe Company and Shoe Warehouse retail chains, announced on Wednesday that net sales decreased 2.6% in the second quarter ended August 3, 2024.

The company, which also produces footwear and accessories through Camuto Group, achieved net sales of $771.9 million. Total comparable sales decreased by 1.4%.

Sales in Designer Brands’ U.S. retail segment dropped 2.6% for the three months, while its Canada retail segment increased by $4.5 million, representing a 6.4% growth. The company’s brand portfolio segment saw the largest increase, with sales rising by $11.8 million or 14%.

Net income at the company was $13.8 million, or diluted earnings per share of $0.24. During the quarter, the company closed one store in the United States and opened two stores in Canada, bringing the total to 499 stores in the U.S. and 177 stores in Canada. 

“This quarter, we further built on our track record of steady improvement as we continued to refine and refresh our strategic initiatives intended to accelerate our ongoing business transformation,” said Doug Howe, chief executive officer. 

“We saw sustained pressure on challenged categories such as dress and seasonal in the second quarter, which we were able to partially mitigate through providing a greater selection of athletic and athleisure brands in our assortment. During the second quarter, we drove athleisure category sales growth of 8% in the U.S. Retail segment over the same period last year, outpacing overall athleisure market growth by over 4 percentage points, and total U.S. Retail sales outpaced the footwear market by 1 percentage point according to Circana. Our strategy successfully supported a solid start to the back-to-school season, particularly in our kids’ category, which helped us to exit the second quarter in a stronger position than we started.”

Looking ahead, the company revised its guidance for the full year 2024, and now anticipates flat to low-single digits and adjusted diluted EPS for Designer Brands to a range of $0.50 to $0.60.