When Shoe Carnival Inc. made its first acquisition in 2021, buying the 21-store Shoe Station chain, it was logical to assume it would absorb the smaller brand into Shoe Carnival.
However, the footwear chain controlled by former Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver is going the other way, at least on a limited basis.
As Shoe Carnival announced quarterly earnings Sept. 5, CEO Mark Worden detailed a “banner switch” initiative.
“Specifically, we have identified existing Shoe Carnival locations where the customer and real estate characteristics are better aligned with Shoe Station,” Worden said in a conference call with analysts.
“Let me start by saying that is currently only a small-scale test and (there are) only a few months of end market results, but to say the early results to date have outperformed our objectives would be an understatement.”
At the end of its second quarter as of Sept. 5, the company had 368 Shoe Carnival and 34 Shoe Station stores. It also had 28 Rogan’s Shoes locations after acquiring that brand in February.
The banner switch test involved converting three Shoe Carnival stores in Alabama and Mississippi to the Shoe Station brand.
Alabama-based Shoe Station operates in Southeastern states and Shoe Carnival decided to test the switch in those markets because “the Shoe Station brand is very strong with high customer awareness and decades of experience,” Worden said.
The switch was successful with each of the stores growing sales by more than 15%, he said.
“Even more encouraging is the profit growth of these three stores, with each store growing profit over 20% versus prior year,” he said.
“Based on these compelling early results, we’re expanding the scope of our test and switching an additional six to seven stores this fall to Shoe Station stores.”
Shoe Carnival stores, as the name implies, are known for their carnival atmosphere with in-store promotions and events to attract customers. Shoe Station attracts a different type of customer, Worden said.
“The Shoe Station product assortment is better meeting their needs, high-end performance running, fashion, women’s, and a variety of the must-have brands” he said.
“This is probably the most exciting part of it. We are capturing the new customers in these three test markets that did not previously shop at Shoe Carnival, and our insights and our data showed there were a variety of customers north of $50,000 household income that Shoe Carnival, which skews largely below $50,000 household income, were not capturing.”
Shoe Carnival did not announce locations of additional conversions to Shoe Station but the program will focus on the Southeast for now.
“It is too early to say today if this strategy is a winner solely in core Southern markets, across most or all of our Southern markets, or possibly even further,” Worden said.
Shoe Carnival said second-quarter results for all of its brands exceeded expectations, with sales rising 12.9% to $332.7 million and adjusted earnings rising by 12 cents a share to 83 cents.
Strength in back-to-school shopping at Shoe Carnival helped the results. Children’s shoes are a key element of Shoe Carnival stores, but Worden said that isn’t a core business for Shoe Station.
Weaver is chairman of Evansville, Indiana-based Shoe Carnival and its largest shareholder, controlling 32.7% of the stock with his wife, Delores.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge deferred a decision on the sale of Salt Life apparel stores for at least a week, with the future of the chain founded in Jacksonville Beach uncertain.
Brand management firms Iconix International Inc. and Hilco Merchant Resources Inc. submitted a joint bid of $38.74 million to acquire the assets of the 28-store chain at an Aug. 27 court auction and have not announced specific plans for the business.
However, documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware included procedures for store closing sales.
At a Sept. 5 court hearing to consider the bid, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein continued the hearing until Sept. 13 but did not say why in court documents.
But a story by Bloomberg Law after the hearing said Silverstein “said the company needed to provide more extensive notice of the proposed purchasers’ plan to wind down the retailers’ stores.”
The delay was to give creditors more time to consider the impact of the sale to Iconix and Hilco, it said.
Salt Life’s parent company, Delta Apparel Inc., filed a Chapter 11 reorganization petition June 30 and announced plans to auction off the stores.
Duluth, Georgia-based Delta acquired the Salt Life apparel business for $37 million in 2013.
Delta has never owned the Salt Life Food Shack restaurants, which have separate ownership groups that license the brand.
The restaurants are not affected by the bankruptcy court proceedings.
When it filed for Chapter 11, Delta also filed notices under the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act saying its 16 Salt Life Florida stores could close if no buyer was found.
The notice for its flagship store in Jacksonville Beach said eight employees would be affected.
Paysafe Ltd. is officially headquartered in London, with its North American headquarters in Jacksonville.
However, its top management is becoming Jacksonville-centric.
The payment processing company announced Sept. 3 that John Crawford, a former executive with Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc., known as FIS, joined the company as chief financial officer.
Paysafe said Crawford will be based in the company’s Jacksonville office.
Crawford joins another former FIS executive, Bruce Lowthers, who has been chief executive officer of Paysafe since 2022.
Paysafe has had a Jacksonville connection since it went public in 2020 by merging with a special purpose acquisition company formed by Bill Foley, chairman of title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc.
Banking technology company FIS was spun off from Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Financial in 2006.
Foley has no executive role with Paysafe but he controls 3% of the stock, according to Paysafe’s annual report.
Cannae Holdings Inc., an investment company spun off from Fidelity, owns 5%.
After merging with Foley’s blank check company, Paysafe announced in 2022 it would establish a North American headquarters in Jacksonville.
Paysafe said Crawford spent nine years at FIS, last serving as Executive Vice President — Strategy, M&A and Venture Capital.
“Looking to the future, Paysafe is entering a different chapter of growth where we will focus on scaling the business and ensuring that we can capitalize on opportunities that lie ahead,” Lowthers said in a news release.
He said Crawford’s experience “positions him to strategically help guide our efforts towards achieving sustainable growth and long-term success as a world-class payments organization.”
Lowthers succeeds Alex Gersh as CFO. Gersh is moving into an advisory role to the chief executive officer.
Paysafe reported revenue rose 8.5% in the first half of this year to $857.7 million and adjusted earnings rose 5.7% to $71.6 million, or $1.16 per share.
ParkerVision Inc. has filed numerous patent infringement claims against major telecommunications product manufacturers, alleging they are illegally using wireless technology developed by the Jacksonville-based company.
The lawsuits started with a 2011 case against Qualcomm Inc. and after a federal appeals court ruling Sept. 6, ParkerVision is hopeful it will have its day in court to pursue its claims against that company.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2022 issued a judgment on a suit filed in 2014 in favor of Qualcomm before it could go to trial.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that decision Sept. 6 and sent it back to the district court in Orlando.
“We are eager to reopen this case in district court. This case was ready for trial nearly two and a half years ago, so I am optimistic that the district court will act swiftly to place it back on the docket,” ParkerVision Chief Executive Jeffrey Parker said in a news release.
“ParkerVision has prosecuted this case for over a decade, confident that Qualcomm has built its Smartphone wireless chip business on our proprietary technologies,” he said.
Before the 2014 case, ParkerVision had filed another lawsuit against Qualcomm in 2011 and a jury in Orlando awarded ParkerVision $173 million in damages.
However, the federal judge presiding over the case tossed out that verdict the next year.
The 2014 lawsuit alleged Qualcomm infringed on different patents than the original case.
ParkerVision has no products on the market and the company is focused on several pending patent infringement cases.
After disappointing investors in the spring with a lower growth forecast, Ponte Vedra-based Treace Medical Concepts Inc. executives are hopeful that the launch of new products will ramp up sales growth.
“This is a reload year. It’s obviously a prove-it year from our investors. We absolutely get that,” CEO John Treace said at a Morgan Stanley Global Health Care conference Sept. 5.
“We have a lot of reasons for optimism and restoring top-line growth to a better level that would be expected for this company,” he said.
Treace Medical was formed to market a surgical procedure for bunions, but it is expanding with new products to treat foot issues.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Hair said the company continues to invest in research and development and has 10 new products in development.
“This is a big advancement for the company,” he said.
“Doctors are telling their reps they want more products from Treace Medical,” Treace said.