Item 1. Business
ITEM 1 BUSINESS
Caleres, Inc. (the "Company"), originally founded as Brown Shoe Company in 1878 and incorporated in 1913, is a global footwear company that operates retail shoe stores and e-commerce websites, and designs, develops, sources, manufactures and distributes footwear for people of all ages. Our mission is to inspire people to feel great...feet first. We meet consumers where they want to shop, whether in-store or online. We employ our “One Caleres” capabilities – design, sourcing, speed and marketing, working in unison to accelerate growth.
The Company’s business operations are organized into two reportable segments—Famous Footwear and Brand Portfolio. The Famous Footwear segment is comprised of our Famous Footwear retail stores, famousfootwear.com and famousfootwear.ca. The Famous Footwear segment operated 860 stores at the end of 2023, selling primarily branded footwear for the entire family. The Brand Portfolio segment offers retailers and consumers a carefully cultivated portfolio of leading brands. This segment is comprised of wholesale operations that designs, develops, sources, manufactures, markets and distributes branded, licensed and private-label footwear primarily to online retailers, national chains, department stores, independent retailers and mass merchandisers, as well as Company-owned Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Naturalizer and Allen Edmonds stores and e-commerce businesses. It also includes the Sam Edelman, Naturalizer and Allen Edmonds retail stores, including 62 stores in the United States and 36 stores in East Asia at the end of 2023, and the e-commerce businesses for our Company-owned brands.
Our net sales are comprised of four major categories: women’s footwear, men’s footwear, children’s footwear and clothing and accessories. The percentage of net sales attributable to each category is as follows:
2023
2022
2021
Women's footwear
61
%
61
%
59
%
Men's footwear
21
%
22
%
24
%
Children's footwear
12
%
11
%
11
%
Clothing and accessories
6
%
6
%
6
%
FAMOUS FOOTWEAR
Our Famous Footwear segment, which is one of America’s leading family-branded footwear retailers, was founded on a simple idea: that everyone deserves to feel the joy that comes from a new pair of shoes. Famous Footwear employs an omni-channel approach to reach consumers wherever they want to shop, including our e-commerce channel through famousfootwear.com and famousfootwear.ca, as well as 860 Famous Footwear retail store locations.
We seek to meet the needs of the millennial family and others by providing an assortment of trend-right, brand-name fashion, casual and athletic footwear at a great price. Brands carried at Famous Footwear include Nike, Skechers, Crocs, adidas, Converse, Vans, HeyDude, Puma, Birkenstock, New Balance, Bearpaw, Under Armour, Dr. Martens, Asics and Timberland, among others, as well as company-owned and licensed brands including Dr. Scholl’s Shoes, LifeStride, Naturalizer and Blowfish Malibu. Our Company-owned and licensed products are sold to our Famous Footwear segment by our Brand Portfolio segment at a profit and represent approximately 5% of the Famous Footwear segment’s net sales. We work closely with our vendors to provide consumers with fresh product and, in some cases, product exclusively designed for and available only at Famous Footwear. Famous Footwear’s retail price points typically range from $20 for shoes to $300 for boots. We believe we have strong relationships with our significant branded footwear suppliers, but the loss of any one or more key suppliers could have a material impact on our Famous Footwear segment and the Company.
Famousfootwear.com and famousfootwear.ca offer an expansive product assortment, beyond what is sold in our retail stores. Accessible via desktop, tablet and mobile devices, these e-commerce websites help consumers explore product assortments, including items available in local stores, and make purchases. Many of our consumers buy online and pick up product in their local store through Famously Fast Pickup or curbside. Orders are typically ready within an hour through this convenient service. Our retail store locations also fulfill approximately two-thirds of all e-commerce orders not picked up in the store. Leveraging our brick-and-mortar store inventory reduces delivery times, driving an enhanced consumer experience. We continue to enhance our digital technology and e-commerce platform, as well as add new features to the
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Famous Footwear Rewards mobile application to deliver a superior experience for our customers who visit Famous Footwear on a mobile device.
Famous Footwear also has an extensive customer loyalty program, Famously You Rewards (“Rewards”), which informs and rewards members with free shipping and bonus points for purchases, product previews, incentives based upon purchase continuity and other periodic promotional offers. Our Famous Footwear websites allow members of Rewards to view their points status and purchase history, manage profile settings and engage further with the brand. Famous Footwear’s mobile app also serves as a hub for Rewards members to shop, find local stores, redeem Rewards certificates and learn about the newest products, latest trends and hottest deals.
Our Famous Footwear stores are located in strip shopping centers as well as outlet and regional malls in 49 states, Canada and Guam. The breakdown by venue at the end of each of the last three fiscal years is as follows:
2023
2022
2021
Strip centers
562
566
582
Outlet malls
165
171
175
Regional malls
133
136
137
Total
860
873
894
We anticipate that our retail store count in 2024 will be approximately flat to the ending store count for 2023. New stores typically experience an initial start-up period characterized by lower sales and operating earnings than what is generally achieved by more mature stores. While the duration of this start-up period may vary by type of store, economic environment and geographic location, new stores typically reach a normal level of profitability within approximately four years.
Famous Footwear relies on merchandise allocation systems and processes that use allocation criteria, consumer segmentation and inventory data in an effort to ensure stores are adequately stocked with product and to differentiate the needs of each store based on location, consumer segmentation and other factors. Famous Footwear’s distribution systems allow for merchandise to be delivered to each store weekly, or on a more frequent basis, as needed. Famous Footwear also uses regional third-party pooled distribution sites across the country.
Famous Footwear’s marketing programs include e-commerce advertising, television advertising, digital marketing and social media, direct mail and in-store advertisements, all of which are designed to further develop and reinforce the Famous Footwear brand and strengthen our connection with consumers. We believe the success of our marketing campaigns is attributable to highlighting key categories and tailoring the timing of such messaging to adapt to seasonal shopping patterns. In 2023, we spent approximately $59.0 million to advertise and market Famous Footwear to our target consumers, a portion of which was recovered from suppliers.
BRAND PORTFOLIO
Our Brand Portfolio segment offers consumers and retailers a portfolio of leading footwear brands. We design, develop, source, manufacture, market and distribute our branded footwear for women, men and kids at a variety of price points. Certain of our branded footwear products are sold under brand names that are owned by the Company and others are developed pursuant to licensing agreements. Our Brand Portfolio segment also sells footwear on a direct-to-consumer basis through our branded retail stores and e-commerce businesses, including our brand websites.
Portfolio of Brands
The following is a listing of our owned brands and licensed products:
Sam Edelman : The Sam Edelman brand, which is celebrating its 20 th anniversary in 2024, has been synonymous with aspirational luxury and on-trend style since 2004. Inspired by timeless American elegance, designer Sam Edelman’s innate understanding of the consumer translates conceptually into a modern lifestyle informed by rich heritage, creativity, and innovation. Beyond its iconic footwear, Sam Edelman offers an ever-expanding range of product categories to fit the customer’s lifestyle, including dresses, ready-to-wear, outerwear, denim, handbags, belts, hosiery and children’s shoes. The full range of Sam Edelman products is sold through Sam Edelman retail stores and online at samedelman.com and
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samedelman.ca, in addition to department stores, national chains and independent retailers around the world with suggested retail prices ranging from $100 to $300. Beyond the Sam Edelman brand, designer Sam Edelman created contemporary lifestyle brand, Circus NY (“Circus”) by Sam Edelman. Circus offers a growing assortment of product categories, including denim and sunglasses, primarily sold online at circusny.com and in top contemporary wholesale and e-commerce retailers at suggested retail price points from $60 to $150. Sam Edelman relaunched Sam & Libby for the spring of 2024 with a fresh take on the namesake brand. Sam & Libby will be available in department stores and specialty retailers across the United States at suggested retail prices from $50 to $110.
Naturalizer : Since 1927, Naturalizer has put women first. As the first brand ever to design shoes to the contours of a woman’s foot, the brand is known for crafting beautiful, modern styles that look and feel exceptional, inside and out. Naturalizer’s legendary emphasis on fit and elegant simplicity launched a brand that became known as “the shoe with the beautiful fit.” The brand’s mission of inclusivity supports the vision to have every woman in Naturalizer shoes. The Naturalizer brand is sold primarily at national chains, online retailers, online at naturalizer.com and naturalizer.ca, department stores, independent retailers and its flagship retail store. Naturalizer footwear is also distributed through wholesale partners in 34 countries around the world and approximately 45 retail stores. In 2024, Naturalizer plans to re-enter China with its newly created global flagship store design, as well as a digital relaunch. Suggested retail price points range from $79 for shoes to $265 for boots.
Vionic : In 2018, we acquired Vionic to expand our access to the growing contemporary comfort footwear category. Vionic is dedicated to harnessing science, ingenuity and input from medical professionals and athletes to make shoes that bring balance to our lives. The fusion between dynamic movement and grounded stability is how our exclusive Vio Motion Technology solves whole body balance. Featuring a wide range of silhouettes, premium materials and thoughtful design for women and men, Vionic offers the style you want with the comfort you crave across a vast selection of fashion sneakers, casual and dress options, all-weather boots, sandals and slippers. The brand is sold online, through independent retailers, television, department stores, national chains and specialty retailers for suggested retail price points from $40 for shoes to $250 for boots.
Allen Edmonds : In 2016, we acquired Allen Edmonds to increase our penetration in men’s footwear. Allen Edmonds, founded in 1922, is a brand of premium men’s footwear, apparel, leather goods and accessories, built on its United States manufacturing heritage. Allen Edmonds products are available at our 57 Allen Edmonds stores in the United States, including eight Port Washington Studio stores, online at allenedmonds.com and allenedmonds.ca and at select retailers worldwide. Suggested retail price points range from $245 for shoes to $950 for boots.
Dr. Scholl’s Shoes : Inspired by its founder, Dr. William Scholl, Dr. Scholl’s Shoes remains forever passionate about creating iconic, effortless footwear for a healthy life. In 2024, the brand is celebrating its 100 th anniversary, marked by when Dr. William Scholl opened his first comfort foot shop in 1924. The brand became a fashion icon in 1959 with the debut of the Original Wooden Exercise Sandal worn by fashion icons across decades. Dr. Scholl’s Shoes continues its legacy of iconic fashion and innovative comfort today. This footwear reaches consumers at a wide range of distribution channels, including national chains, department stores, mass merchandisers, online, including drschollshoes.com, our Famous Footwear retail stores and independent retailers. Suggested price points range from $50 for shoes to $190 for boots. We have a long-term license agreement to sell Dr. Scholl’s Shoes in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
LifeStride : For more than 70 years, LifeStride has created quality footwear for women who value both style and all-day comfort. LifeStride is made for the woman on-the-go, with SoftSystem comfort in every shoe, so she does not have to sacrifice comfort or style for the price. The brand is sold in national chains, our Famous Footwear retail stores, online, including lifestride.com, and department stores at suggested retail price points ranging from $60 for shoes to $130 for boots.
Franco Sarto : Since 1990, Franco Sarto has embodied timeless, wearable styles inspired by the craft and design of Italian footwear. Today, designed in Italy by Creative Director, Gionata Pagni, this still holds true. The brand is sold in major national chains, online, including francosarto.com, department stores, specialty retailers, our Famous Footwear retail stores and independent retailers at suggested retail price points from $99 for shoes to $290 for boots.
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Blowfish Malibu : In 2018, we acquired a controlling interest in Blowfish Malibu and in November 2021, we acquired the remaining interest. Blowfish Malibu, which was founded in 2005, designs and sells women’s and children’s footwear that captures the fresh youthful spirit and casual living that is distinctively Southern California. The brand is sold at national chains, our Famous Footwear stores and independent retailers. Suggested retail price points range from $30 for shoes to $90 for boots.
Rykä : For over 30 years, Rykä has been innovating athletic footwear exclusively for a woman’s foot. Rykä offers footwear to serve her needs for walking, running and hiking, along with lifestyle trends. The brand is distributed through national chains, online retailers, including ryka.com, independent retailers, department stores, specialty retailers and our Famous Footwear retail stores at suggested retail price points from $80 to $145.
Vince : The Vince women’s shoe collection launched in 2012 and was expanded in 2014 to include the Vince men’s footwear collection. Vince creates elevated yet understated pieces for every day. The brand is primarily sold in premier department stores, online, national chains and specialty retailers at suggested price points from $330 for shoes to $595 for tall boots. We have a license agreement with Vince, LLC to sell Vince footwear through January 2025.
Bzees : Bzees is a comfort brand of machine washable women’s footwear designed to make you feel weightless, energized and free. Beginning in mid-2024, Bzees will be sold under the LifeStride brand as Bzees for LifeStride. The brand is distributed through national chains, department stores, online retailers including bzees.com, independent retailers, specialty retailers and our Famous Footwear retail stores at suggested retail price points from $80 for shoes to $130 for boots.
Veronica Beard : In 2020, we began an exclusive partnership with the American ready-to-wear brand, Veronica Beard, to produce the women’s footwear collection. The Veronica Beard collection includes styles that strike the balance between cool and classic, taking the consumer from day to night and work to weekend. The brand is distributed through domestic wholesale partners carrying Veronica Beard ready-to-wear and independent footwear retailers at suggested retail price points ranging from $295 for shoes to $695 for boots. We have a license agreement to sell footwear through December 2024.
Wholesale
Within our Brand Portfolio segment, our brands are designed, sourced and distributed on a wholesale basis to approximately 3,600 retailers, including online retailers, national chains, department stores, independent retailers and mass merchandisers throughout the United States and Canada, as well as approximately 65 other countries (including sales to our retail operations). Our most significant customers include Famous Footwear and many of the nation’s largest retailers, including online retailers such as Amazon.com, Nordstrom.com, Macys.com and Zappos.com; national chains such as Nordstrom Rack, DSW, TJX Corporation (including TJ Maxx and Marshalls), Kohl’s and Ross Stores; department stores such as Nordstrom, Macy’s and Dillard’s; mass merchandisers such as Walmart; and independent retailers such as Qurate Retail Group, which operates QVC and Home Shopping Network. Many of these wholesale customers also sell our products through their own websites. In these arrangements, orders are typically fulfilled on a drop-ship basis from our logistics network. We also sell product to a variety of international retail customers and distributors.
Our Brand Portfolio segment sold approximately 35.2 million pairs of shoes on a wholesale basis during 2023. Products sold under license agreements accounted for approximately 13% of the sales of the Brand Portfolio segment in both 2023 and 2021 and 12% of the segment’s sales in 2022. Caleres also receives license revenue from third parties related to certain owned brands, for use in connection with other brand-enhancing non-footwear product categories.
The strategic initiatives we have implemented in recent years continue to drive profitable growth. Our Edit to Win initiative drives more volume through fewer SKUs. In addition, our speed program allows us to reduce both inventory risks and markdowns by aligning inventory with consumer demand to drive sales productivity. Approximately 20% of our inventory receipts were sourced through speed programs during 2023 and we anticipate continued growth for 2024.
Direct-to-Consumer
Our Brand Portfolio segment includes the operation of several e-commerce websites, including naturalizer.com, naturalizer.ca, naturalizer.co.uk, vionicshoes.com, samedelman.com, samedelman.ca, samedelman.co.uk,
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allenedmonds.com, allenedmonds.ca, drschollsshoes.com, lifestride.com, francosarto.com, ryka.com, bzees.com and zodiacshoes.com, which offer substantially the same product selection to consumers as we sell to our wholesale customers. Vince.com, blowfishshoes.com, and veronicabeard.com complement our distribution of those brands. References to our website addresses do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the websites and the information contained on the websites is not part of this report.
We also operate retail stores for certain brands, including Allen Edmonds, Sam Edelman and Naturalizer. The number of our owned Brand Portfolio retail stores at the end of the last three fiscal years was as follows:
2023
2022
2021
Allen Edmonds
57
56
61
Sam Edelman
39
34
23
Naturalizer
2
2
2
Total
98
92
86
At the end of 2023, we operated 57 Allen Edmonds stores in the United States, each averaging approximately 1,530 square feet. We expect to open approximately six new Allen Edmonds stores and close approximately four stores in 2024, as we continue to align our real estate and e-commerce strategies. At the end of 2023, we operated four Sam Edelman stores in the United States, each averaging approximately 2,300 square feet, and 35 stores in East Asia. We anticipate expanding our Sam Edelman presence in East and Southeast Asia in 2024 with the opening of approximately 25 new stores. After closing the majority of our Naturalizer retail stores at the beginning of 2021, we ended the year with one flagship Naturalizer store in the United States and one store in China. We anticipate expanding our Naturalizer presence in East Asia in 2024 with the opening of approximately 10 new stores. In addition to our owned Brand Portfolio retail stores, there are 100 branded stores that are owned by third parties and are operated internationally through distributor, licensed or franchise agreements.
Marketing
Over the last few years, we’ve been building a “One Caleres” marketing ecosystem. We believe that robust consumer data is the source of our competitive advantage and have invested in our marketing strategy with digital marketing, loyalty, data and analytics, consumer insight and brand marketing. We believe that our investment in these areas, particularly digital marketing and loyalty, have resulted in significant growth in our direct-to-consumer business. In addition, we continue to leverage consumer insights and data to inform marketing initiatives to capture a greater share of our target consumers’ spend as well as reach new audiences with a high propensity to purchase our products.
Our marketing teams are responsible for the development and implementation of innovative marketing programs that serve the consumer facing needs of our portfolio of brands as well as that of our retail partners and brand websites. Our marketing teams are instrumental in continuing to drive growth in e-commerce sales, producing relevant and purpose-driven brand positioning and creating meaningful connections with consumers that have increased awareness and loyalty across our portfolio. In 2023, we spent approximately $74.3 million in advertising and marketing support for our Brand Portfolio segment, including digital marketing and social media, consumer media advertising, in-store displays, product placement, production, trade shows and print.
Product Development Operations
We maintain design and product development teams for our brands in Clayton, Missouri; Dongguan, China; Putian, China; Novato, California; New York, New York; and Port Washington, Wisconsin, as well as other select fashion locations, including Florence, Italy. These teams, which include independent designers, are responsible for the creation and development of new product styles. Our designers monitor trends in fashion footwear and apparel and work closely with retailers to identify consumer footwear preferences. Our design teams create collections of footwear, and our sourcing and product development offices convert those designs into new footwear styles. We operate a sample-making facility in Dongguan, China that allows us to have greater control over our product development in terms of accuracy, execution and speed-to-market.
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Sourcing and Manufacturing Operations
In 2023, the sourcing operations sourced approximately 34.9 million pairs of shoes through a global network of third-party independent footwear manufacturers. The majority of our footwear sourced is provided by approximately 62 manufacturers operating approximately 118 manufacturing facilities. In certain countries, we use agents to facilitate and manage the development, production and shipment of product. We attribute our ability to achieve consistent quality, competitive prices and on-time delivery to the breadth of these established relationships, as well as steps we have taken to digitize many aspects of our end-to-end supply chain processes to enable mutually beneficial workload efficiency, visibility and agility. While we generally do not have significant contractual commitments with our suppliers, we do enter into sourcing agreements with certain independent sourcing agents. Prior to production, we monitor the quality of all of our footwear components and also inspect the prototypes of each footwear style.
The following table provides an overview of our sourcing by country in 2023:
Millions of
Country
Pairs
China
21.0
Vietnam
11.8
Cambodia
1.2
India
0.3
Other
0.6
Total
34.9
While we source the majority of our footwear from independent footwear manufacturers, we also operate manufacturing facilities in Port Washington, Wisconsin and Santiago, Dominican Republic. These facilities manufacture footwear and certain accessories for our Allen Edmonds brand. We believe operating our own manufacturing facilities in North America provides us with greater control over the quality and craftsmanship that are essential to the iconic Allen Edmonds brand. In addition, our Port Washington facility serves our recrafting operations, which supports our commitment to sustainability. Our recrafting operations allow the Allen Edmonds consumer to extend the life of their footwear, restoring their shoes to nearly their original state. Most styles can be recrafted twice, and some can be recrafted three times.
Backlog
At February 3, 2024, our Brand Portfolio segment had a backlog of unfilled wholesale orders of approximately $234.5 million, compared to $284.6 million as of January 28, 2023. Most orders are for delivery within the next 90 to 120 days. Orders are subject to cancellation; however, with the exception of the cancellations we experienced in 2020 associated with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our wholesale partners, we have not experienced significant cancellations of orders. The decrease in our backlog order levels reflects more conservative buying by our wholesale customers as they more tightly manage their inventory levels , as well as the dynamic nature of inventory buying, which includes periodic replenishment orders and shipping directly to the end consumer purchasing from our wholesale customers’ websites.
The backlog at any particular time is affected by a number of factors, including supply chain disruptions, seasonality and capacity shifts at international manufacturers. Accordingly, a comparison of backlog from period to period may not be indicative of eventual actual shipments or the growth rate of sales from one period to the next.
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Human Capital Management
As of February 3, 2024, we had approximately 9,200 employees, including 5,100 full-time and 4,100 part-time. In the United States, there were no employees subject to union contracts. In Canada, we employ approximately 17 warehouse employees under a union contract, which will expire in October 2025. The Company’s success depends on our ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain qualified management, administrative, product design and development and sales and marketing personnel to support existing operations and future growth. Since our founding in 1878, we have been all about the right fit. Our values – Passion, Accountability, Curiosity, Creativity and Caring, inform how we work, how we treat one another and how we live our mission.
Compensation Programs and Employee Benefits
We believe that pay, benefits and incentives make up the total rewards package and provide employees and their families with financial protection and security for the future. Our compensation programs are designed to encourage and reward our executives and associates for superior performance and drive long-term shareholder value. We offer a comprehensive benefits package to our associates that provides, among other benefits, competitive salaries and wages; comprehensive health insurance coverage to eligible employees; retirement plans; education assistance; paid time off; parental bonding leave; adoption benefits; and charitable giving opportunities through the Caleres Cares Charitable Trust, including volunteer opportunities and our matching gift program.
Health and Safety
Our associates make health and safety a daily priority at our stores, distribution centers, offices and factories. Newly hired associates are required to attend health and safety training as part of the onboarding process and they receive a variety of relevant training and information throughout the year. Our guidelines cover many common elements such as physical safety and security, workplace violence, emergency procedures, incident reporting protocols, first aid and other general health and safety topics. All of our retail associates receive training in accordance with our Occupational Health and Safety Program, which provides for both their safety and that of our customers. Our corporate offices support the well-being of our associates with on-site amenities such as a fitness center and a registered dietician that is available for consultations.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Caleres was founded on the insight that people are unique, and we are proud of our inclusive and collaborative environment where differences are celebrated. We believe that Caleres should be as diverse as the people and communities we serve. We are committed to recruiting talented individuals from all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, lifestyles and belief systems and developing diverse candidate slates for every open position. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council is focused on elevating awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion through its educational communications and events, as well as trainings provided to our associates throughout the year. In addition, our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is reflected in our Board of Directors. As of February 3, 2024, we had 11 directors, of which 55% are female and 18% are racially or ethnically diverse.
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Initiatives
Our ESG initiatives are an important component of our enterprise risk management program. Our long-standing pledge to quality craftmanship includes creating sustainable and lasting value for all of our stakeholders by governing and operating with integrity and transparency and by pursuing ambitious ESG targets. Our ESG Steering Committee is responsible for developing programs, goals and metrics to support our ESG initiatives. We conducted an assessment to determine those areas of our operations that are most important to Caleres and our stakeholders, which in turn guided the framework for our ESG initiatives.
Many of our ESG goals focus on high impact areas of opportunity, such as the materials that are used in our products, their byproducts and supply chain labor standards. We are striving to use environmentally preferred materials to produce our products and packaging, and are working to ensure our strategic factories around the world comply with leading global work standards. Our ESG reports, which have been nationally recognized on Newsweek’s Most Responsible Companies list, detail our ESG strategy and provide our goals for sustainable products and practices and highlighted our progress toward our identified target goals, which we seek to achieve by 2025. Our ESG reports may be accessed at www.caleres.com/about/esg. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this report. We expect to publish another ESG report in the spring of 2024.
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Competition
With many companies operating traditional brick-and-mortar retail shoe stores and departments and e-commerce businesses, we compete in a highly fragmented market. In addition, the continuing consumer shift to online and mobile shopping has increased price competition and requires retailers to lower shipping costs charged to customers, improve shipping speeds and optimize mobile platforms. Our competitors include local, regional and national shoe store chains, department stores, discount stores, mass merchandisers, numerous independent retail operators of various sizes and e-commerce businesses. Quality of products and services, store location, trend-right merchandise selection and availability of brands, pricing, marketing, advertising and consumer service are all factors that impact retail competition.
In addition, our wholesale customers sell shoes purchased from competing footwear suppliers. Those competing footwear suppliers own and license brands, many of which are well-known and marketed aggressively. Many retailers, who are our wholesale customers, source directly from factories or through agents. The wholesale footwear business has low barriers to entry, which further intensifies competition.
Seasonality
Our business is seasonal in nature due to consumer spending patterns with higher back-to-school and holiday season sales. Although the third fiscal quarter has historically accounted for a substantial portion of the Company’s earnings for the year, we have experienced more equal distribution among the quarters in recent years.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Our Internet address is www.caleres.com. Our Internet address is included in this annual report on Form 10-K as an inactive textual reference only. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this report. We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. We make available free of charge our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished, as required by Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, through our Internet website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with or furnish it to the SEC. You may access these SEC filings via the hyperlink to a third-party SEC filings website that we provide on our website.
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The following is a list of the names and ages of the executive officers of the Company and of the offices held by each person. There is no family relationship between any of the named persons. The terms of the following executive officers will expire in May 2024 or upon their respective successors being chosen and qualified.
Name
Age
Current Position
Diane M. Sullivan
68
Executive Chair
John W. Schmidt
63
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thomas C. Burke
56
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Jack P. Calandra
56
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Michael R. Edwards
53
Division President – Famous Footwear
Daniel R. Friedman
63
Chief Sourcing Officer
Todd E. Hasty
51
Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Willis D. Hill
52
Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Douglas W. Koch
72
Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
The period of service of each officer in the positions listed and other business experience are set forth below.
Diane M. Sullivan, Executive Chair since January 2023. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors from February 2014 to January 2023. President and Chief Executive Officer from May 2011 to November 2020. President and Chief Operating Officer from March 2006 to May 2011. President from January 2004 to March 2006.
John W. Schmidt , President, Chief Executive Officer and Director since January 2023. President from December 2020 to January 2023. Division President – Brand Portfolio from October 2015 to December 2020. Division President – Contemporary Fashion Brands from January 2011 to September 2015. Senior Vice President, Better and Image Brands
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from January 2010 to January 2011. Senior Vice President and General Manager, Better and Image Brands from March 2008 until January 2010. Various positions, including Vice President, President, Group President of Wholesale Footwear for Nine West Group from September 1998 to February 2008.
Thomas C. Burke , Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since August 2016. Vice President, Legal from December 2015 to August 2016. Deputy General Counsel from March 2012 to December 2015. Various positions at the Company, including Associate General Counsel and Director, Talent Management, from March 2001 to March 2012.
Jack P. Calandra, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer since September 2022. Chief Financial Officer of a.k.a. Brands in 2021. Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Tailored Brands, Inc. from 2017 to 2020. Various executive finance positions, including Senior Vice President Corporate Finance and Investor Relations with Gap, Inc., from 2005 to 2016.
Michael R. Edwards , Division President – Famous Footwear since November 2020. Senior Vice President, Digital Commerce, Planning, Allocation and Stores from February 2018 to November 2020. Chief Customer Officer from September 2017 to February 2018. Senior Vice President, Planning, Allocation and Analytics from December 2016 to September 2017. Vice President, Planning and Allocation from May 2015 to December 2016. Vice President, Merchandising and Sales Operations from October 2011 to May 2015.
Daniel R. Friedman , Chief Sourcing Officer since April 2018. Division President – Global Supply Chain from January 2010 to April 2018. Senior Vice President, Product Development and Sourcing from July 2006 to January 2010. Managing Director at Camuto Group, Inc. from 2002 to July 2006.
Todd E. Hasty , Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer since January 2020. Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer from March 2019 to January 2020. Vice President, Controller from March 2016 to March 2019. Vice President, Assistant Controller from October 2007 to March 2016.
Willis D. Hill , Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer since September 2018. Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer from August 2017 to September 2018. Senior Vice President, Information Technology from January 2017 to August 2017. Vice President, Retail Information Technology from July 2011 to January 2017. Director, Retail Information Technology from July 2008 to July 2011.
Douglas W. Koch , Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer since April 2023. Senior Vice President, Strategic Projects from September 2019 to April 2023. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer from January 2016 to September 2019. Senior Vice President and Chief Talent and Strategy Officer from January 2011 to January 2016. Senior Vice President and Chief Talent Officer from May 2005 to January 2011. Senior Vice President, Human Resources from March 2002 to May 2005.