Shoe Carnival, the 377-door family footwear chain, coming off the best quarterly results in its 43-year history, says it will modernize 90 percent of its fleet by 2025 and commence an annual store opening strategy of 10 or more doors starting in 2023. A return to net new store growth begins in 2022.

The retailer hiked its FY21 guidance last week after its Q3 net income hit a record of $46.8 million and comparable store sales rose 30 percent year-over-year. Shoe Carnival is currently forecasting an annual net sales range of $1.285-$1.290 billion and EPS in the $5.00-$5.10 range.

Some of the chain’s Q3 sales volume of $356.3 million, including a 12.5 percent increase in omnichannel revenues, was attributable to pent-up demand from children going back-to-school and returning to team sports with other strong sales growth related to SCVL’s lifestyle offerings. Comparable store sales were up 30.1 percent year-over-year. Through the first nine months of FY21, SCVL’s ecommerce sales were $115 million, approximately twice the size of the business in FY19.

“The best news coming out of the quarter is that we are continuing to pull in customers by the millions into our stores,” said Mark Warden, SCVL’s president. “We see the future of retail as being about having a real-world experience, walking our clean, bright stores, seeing the compelling visuals that are constantly being updated and discovering new brands through our steady stream of exciting pop-ups.”