"The global Caleres team continued to navigate this choppy market environment, executing on our plan and delivering better than expected results in the quarter just ended”, commented Diane Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman, adding: “Even with the ongoing market impacts of the virus, Caleres took significant steps during the quarter to strengthen the business, improve the balance sheet, leverage our capabilities and lay the foundation for a continuing recovery of our business in the year’s second half.”

(13-weeks ended on the 1^st of August 2020 compared to 13-weeks ended on the 3^rd of August 2019)
The company's net sales totaled 501.4 million US dollars, down by 33.4% from the second quarter of fiscal 2019. Direct-to-consumer sales represented 80% of total net sales. A 20.5% sales decline was registered in the Famous Footwear segment with comparable stores sales up by 14.7% during the quarter, while the Brand Portfolio segment registered a 48.9% sales decline. The total company ecommerce related sales increased by more than 30%, with total company ecommerce penetration rising to nearly 34% of net sales;

Net loss of 30.7 million US dollars, or a loss of 0.83 US dollars per diluted share, compared to net income of 25.3 million US dollars, or 0.61 US dollars per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The loss of 0.83 US dollars per share includes 0.13 US dollars of adjustments for COVID-19 related expenses and 0.13 US dollars related to the fair value adjustment to the Blowfish purchase obligation. Adjusted net loss was 21.1 million US dollars, or an adjusted loss of 0.57 US dollars per diluted share compared to adjusted net income of 25.8 million US dollars, or adjusted earnings of 0.62 US dollars per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.

“Looking ahead, while we expect the second half of 2020 to continue to be unpredictable, we are managing our business for the long term while at the same time remaining nimble to adapt to unanticipated challenges that may arise during this unusual year. We believe our diverse portfolio of brands that are well-aligned with consumer trends, advanced capabilities and improving capital structure will lead us through the recovery and position Caleres to embrace rapidly changing consumer behaviours and capitalize on the increasingly dynamic marketplace” , concluded Sullivan.