Footwear chain Shoe Carnival, which intends to surpass 400 stores this year and 500 by 2028 through a combination of organic growth and targeted store acquisitions, reported a continued customer shift to non-athletic footwear categories in Q4. Comparable store sales in the non-athletic segment were up in the “low 20s” versus Q4/19 as athletic footwear same-store sales rose by mid-single digits.

Casual offerings drove a “high 20s” increase versus Q4/19 in men’s non-athletic as women’s non-athletic sales increased by mid-single digits on a comp basis. Citing ongoing fashion trends and an improved product flow, Shoe Carnival said it expects strong sales in non-athletic categories to continue during the remainder of FY23. The retailer, which has already positioned inventory to take advantage of the fashion shift, added that both its aged inventory and seasonal carryover merchandise are in line with expectations, so it has no need to provide deep discounts in the weeks ahead.

Shoe Carnival’s Q4 sales of $290.8 million, while below that of the year-ago quarter, were up 21.2 percent from Q4/19 as gross margin grew by 920 basis points. But Q1 began slowly for the retailer, which is currently forecasting a mid-single-digit drop in sales and lower year-over-year EPS for the period.