Shoe Carnival buys Shoe Station in cash deal
US-based footwear and accessories retailer Shoe Carnival, headquartered in Indiana, has recently made the first acquisition of its 43-year history.
The company has bought all the assets of fellow American company Shoe Station, a previously family-owned retailer based in Alabama which operates retail stores across five south-eastern states. A cash deal of $67 million was agreed.
President and chief executive of the purchaser, Mark Worden, commented that the deal will boost Shoe Carnival’s ambitions towards becoming “a multi-billion-dollar retailer”. He added that the acquisition comes on the heels of the firm’s best quarter of its best-ever year. (The company reported record quarterly net sales of $356.3 million during the third quarter of its most recent fiscal year period, up 29.8% year on year.)
Following the deal, Shoe Carnival will own and operate all of Shoe Station’s stores, which it stated would create a complementary retail platform to serve a broader customer base across both urban and suburban demographics.
The latter’s most recent president and chief executive, G. Brent Barkin, the son of Shoe Station’s founder, Terry S. Barkin, will transition into the role of senior vice president of new business development and integration, reporting to Mr Worden.
Mr Barkin said: “Shoe Carnival brings infrastructure and financial backing to significantly accelerate our Shoe Station brand growth. Taken together, the two brands create a winning customer value proposition.”
The newly integrated business stated that it expects to now surpass 400 retail stores by the close of 2022, with the aim being to attain double-digit new store growth in the years ahead.
