The Ohio-based retailer of footwear and accessories presented the company's three-year strategic priorities designed to leverage its business model to unlock value and deliver 2021 adjusted earnings per share in the range of 2.65 US dollars to 2.75 US dollars. The company also unveiled its new corporate name, Designer Brands Inc., which supports its vision for the future and reflects its expertise in building brands and delivering differentiated experiences, powered by one of North America's largest footwear enterprises.

"The long-term plan we announced today represents a new chapter for our company as we take greater control of our destiny in today's changing retail landscape. Over the next three years and beyond, we will leverage our integrated enterprise to continue delivering differentiated products and experiences while significantly expanding our gross margin by bringing the production of our private brands in-house through our industry-leading Camuto Group and increasing the sales penetration of all of our produced brands across our retail channels," stated Roger Rawlins, Chief Executive Officer of Designer Brands, adding: "With DSW's world-class omni-channel capabilities and loyal customer base, combined with Camuto Group's leading design and sourcing capabilities and The Shoe Company's powerful last-mile solution, Designer Brands has a strong platform to grow and lead the footwear market."

Designer Brands' strategic priorities over the next three years include:    
- Controlling Designer Brands' destiny through differentiated products and experiences;
- Grow market share through positive comparable store sales, new direct-to-consumer opportunities and continued partnership with other retailers; 
- Leveraging the scale of the designer brands enterprise.

Fiscal 2021 Objectives

The Company provided its financial expectations for 2021:
- Adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of 2.65 US dollars to 2.75 US dollars; 
- 5.5% revenue CAGR;
- Generate consistent low single-digit comparable store sales growth;
- Improve gross profit by 240 basis points from 2018 level;
- Drive improved operating income across its three segments over the next three years;
- Target 800 million US dollars cumulative cash flow over the next three years.

For fiscal 2019, which is the 52-week period ending on the 1st of February 2020, the company expects to achieve low double-digit revenue growth as compared to fiscal 2018 revenue of 3.2 billion US dollars, which included a 189 million US dollars contribution from the Canada Retail segment and a 96 million  US dollars contribution from the new Brand Portfolio segment. The company anticipates increasing comparable store sales in the low single-digit range.
Fiscal 2019 adjusted earnings per share is expected to range between 1.80 US dollars to 1.90 US dollars. This represents year-over-year earnings growth of 5% to 11% excluding fiscal 2018 losses from the wind-down of operations of exited business and including fiscal 2018 estimated losses for the first quarter of the Canada Retail segment and three quarters of the Branded Portfolio segment.

New Corporate Name

Effective from the 19th of March, the parent company, DSW Inc. becomes Designer Brands. In conjunction with its corporate name change, Designer Brands will change the Company's ticker symbol from "DSW" to "DBI," effective at the start of trading on the 2nd April 2019, which has been approved by the New York Stock Exchange.