SHOE STATION GROUP INC (SHOE)

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is intended to provide information to assist the reader in better understanding and evaluating our financial condition and results of operations. We encourage you to read this in conjunction with our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included in PART I, ITEM 1 of this Quarterly Report, as well as our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026 as filed with the SEC. This section of this Quarterly Report generally discusses our results for second quarter 2026 and second quarter 2025 as well as year-to-date results for, and comparisons between, the two periods.

As referred to herein, second quarter 2026 is the thirteen weeks ended August 1, 2026, first quarter 2026 is the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2026 and second quarter 2025 is the thirteen weeks ended August 2, 2025. Also as referred to herein, year-to-date 2026 is the twenty-six weeks ended August 1, 2026 and year-to-date 2025 is the twenty-six weeks ended August 2, 2025. Fiscal 2026 is the fiscal year ending January 30, 2027.

Overview of Our Business

Shoe Station Group, Inc. (formerly known as Shoe Carnival, Inc.) is one of the nation’s largest omnichannel sellers of footwear for the family, and our goal is to be the leading family footwear retailer in the United States. Our product assortment, whether shopping in a physical store or through our e-commerce sales channel, is primarily branded footwear and includes dress and casual shoes, sandals, boots, work shoes, and a wide assortment of athletic shoes. We carry shoes in two general categories – athletics and non-athletics with subcategories for men’s, women’s and children’s and we also carry certain accessories. In addition to our physical stores, through our e-commerce sales channel, customers can purchase the same assortment of merchandise in all categories of footwear with expanded options in certain instances. We operate under two banners: Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station. As of August 1, 2026, we operated 422 stores across 35 states and Puerto Rico, consisting of 165 Shoe Station locations and 257 Shoe Carnival locations.

On November 13, 2025, we announced that our Board unanimously approved changing our corporate name to Shoe Station Group, Inc., which received shareholder approval at our Annual Meeting of Shareholders on June 10, 2026. The name change was effective June 12, 2026. In connection with the name change, our common stock began trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol SHOE.

Shoe Carnival

Our Shoe Carnival banner has developed over our 47-year history and is differentiated from our competitors by our distinctive, fun and promotional marketing efforts. Shoe Carnival stores combine competitive pricing with a high-energy in-store environment that encourages customer participation. Unique features of our Shoe Carnival store experience include upbeat music, opportunities for customers to spin our spin-n-win wheel and a mic-person who runs in-store specials. These specials include contests, games and hot deals of the moment to encourage customers to take immediate advantage of our special, in-store pricing. Our Shoe Carnival bannered stores serve families with children through moderate-income brands and a value-oriented selection, with entry-level price points.

Shoe Station

Our Shoe Station banner, which includes stores co-branded as “Shoe Station at Rogan’s” and business-to-business operations branded as “Rogan’s Work”, serves a broader base of footwear customers. Our Shoe Station concept targets a more affluent footwear customer than our Shoe Carnival banner and has a strong track record of capitalizing on emerging footwear fashion trends and introducing new brands that meet the needs of the target customer. Shoe Station serves this demographic through a differentiated assortment of premium brands and an enhanced in-store experience.

CEO Transition and Strategic Review

Following the departure of Mark J. Worden from his position as our President and Chief Executive Officer and his resignation from our Board on February 24, 2026, our Board appointed Clifton E. Sifford to serve as our Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sifford continues to also serve as the Vice Chairman of our Board. Mr. Worden’s departure was not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices.

In connection with the CEO transition, payments to Mr. Worden and other related costs incurred, net of accruals for incentive and stock-based compensation as of January 31, 2026, resulted in a charge of $5.3 million in first quarter 2026. The tax deductibility of the

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payments made to Mr. Worden was limited by the Internal Revenue Code and increased our income tax expense by approximately $1.6 million. The impact of these payments made to Mr. Worden on our Diluted Net Loss per Share during first quarter 2026 was $0.20.

Following the CEO transition described above, we undertook a review of our previously announced rebanner program as well as our broader strategic direction. We completed our review during first quarter 2026 and determined that:

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While our corporate name change to Shoe Station Group, Inc. reflects the Board’s conviction that the Shoe Station concept is our primary long-term growth vehicle, we are no longer pursuing a single-banner Shoe Station strategy. The Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station banners will each serve distinct consumer segments, and we believe the Company is best positioned to operate both banners as permanent, independent components of our portfolio.

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Only a limited number of additional Shoe Carnival locations meet the criteria for conversion to our Shoe Station banner. However, we continue to feel confident about growth opportunities for the Shoe Station banner through new store growth in markets that serve the target customer. No additional rebanners are expected for the remainder of Fiscal 2026.

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There are underperforming stores within our store fleet that we do not believe have a path to acceptable economics, with or without banner conversion. Four such stores have been closed in year-to-date 2026, and we expect to close eight to 10 additional stores during the third and fourth quarters of Fiscal 2026 and a further six to 10 stores during Fiscal 2027.

These decisions resulted in first quarter 2026 store level long-lived asset impairments, other Property and Equipment write-offs and other charges totaling approximately $8.3 million, or $0.23 per diluted share.

When combined with the CEO transition costs discussed above, these charges increased our Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (“SG&A”) in first quarter 2026 by $13.6 million and increased our Net Loss and Diluted Net Loss per Share by $11.9 million and $0.43, respectively. No additional charges related to the CEO transition and strategic review were recorded in second quarter 2026.

Critical Accounting Policies

We use judgment in reporting our financial results. This judgment involves estimates based in part on our historical experience and incorporates the impact of the current general economic climate and company-specific circumstances. However, because future events and economic conditions are inherently uncertain, our actual results could differ materially from these estimates. Our accounting policies that require more significant judgments include those with respect to Merchandise Inventories, valuation of long-lived assets, valuation of Goodwill and Intangible Assets, leases and income taxes. The accounting policies that require more significant judgment are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, and there have been no material changes to those critical accounting policies.

Results of Operations Summary Information

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Comparable store Net Sales is a key performance indicator for us. We include in our comparable store Net Sales stores that have been open for 13 full months after such stores’ grand opening or acquisition prior to the beginning of the period. We do not remove stores from comparable store Net Sales when stores are relocated, remodeled or rebannered. Stores recently opened, acquired or permanently closed are not included in comparable store Net Sales. We generally include e-commerce sales in our comparable store Net Sales as a result of our omnichannel retailer strategy. Due to our omnichannel retailer strategy, we view e-commerce sales as an extension of our physical stores.

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The following table sets forth our results of operations expressed as a percentage of Net Sales for the periods indicated:

Executive Summary for Second Quarter Ended August 1, 2026

Operating Results

Second quarter 2026 Net Income was $6.3 million, or $0.23 per diluted share compared to Net Income of $19.2 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, reported in second quarter 2025. Diluted Net Income per Share in second quarter 2026 declined $0.47 compared to second quarter 2025 on lower Net Sales and a lower gross profit margin.

Our Net Sales declined 7.2% in second quarter 2026 compared to second quarter 2025, primarily due to a 7.1% decline in comparable store Net Sales, inclusive of a 4% decrease in units sold. For each respective banner:

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Shoe Carnival Net Sales were $178.5 million, representing 63% of total Net Sales, and declined 6.5%, inclusive of a comparable store Net Sales decline of 6.3%.

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Shoe Station Net Sales were $105.7 million, representing 37% of total Net Sales, and declined 8.4%, inclusive of a comparable store Net Sales decline of 8.5%.

Net Sales in both banners were impacted by an increasingly

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations (the “MD&A”) should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements included in PART II, ITEM 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024 and year-over-year comparisons between Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024. A discussion of Fiscal 2024 and year-over-year comparisons between Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2023 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in PART II, ITEM 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended February 1, 2025, filed with the SEC on March 21, 2025. At the end of this section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have included historical data for the past five fiscal years to facilitate trend analysis of key data reported in our consolidated financial statements and other select operating data.

Overview of Our Business

Shoe Carnival, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest omnichannel sellers of footwear for the family, and our goal is to be the leading family footwear retailer in the United States. Our product assortment, whether shopping in a physical store or through our e-commerce sales channel, is primarily branded footwear and includes dress and casual shoes, sandals, boots, work, and a wide assortment of athletic shoes. We carry shoes in two general categories – athletics and non-athletics with subcategories for men’s, women’s and children’s and we also carry certain accessories. In addition to our physical stores, through our e-commerce sales channel, customers can purchase the same assortment of merchandise in all categories of footwear with expanded options in certain instances. During Fiscal 2025, we operated two banners: Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station. For a description of these two banners, including the in-store environment, target customer and product assortment, see PART I, ITEM 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of our Fiscal 2025 year end, we operated 426 stores across 35 states and Puerto Rico, consisting of 144 Shoe Station locations and 282 Shoe Carnival locations. As more fully described in PART I, ITEM 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, at the end of Fiscal 2025, Shoe Station bannered stores represented approximately 34% of our total store fleet, compared to approximately 10% at the end of Fiscal 2024. During Fiscal 2025, we rebannered 101 stores into Shoe Station stores, consisting of 73 Shoe Carnival stores and all 28 Rogan’s stores.

On November 13, 2025, we announced that our Board of Directors unanimously approved changing our corporate name to Shoe Station Group, Inc., subject to shareholder approval at our Annual Meeting of Shareholders in June 2026. That proposed name change remains on the June 2026 agenda. The proposed corporate name change to Shoe Station Group, Inc. reflects the Board’s conviction that the Shoe Station concept is our primary long-term growth vehicle.

Store Portfolio and Our Banner Strategy

The following tables set forth our physical store count for Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2024, as impacted by store rebanners, acquisitions, store openings and store closures.

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As stated above, during Fiscal 2025, we rebannerd 101 stores into Shoe Station stores. Over time this rebanner strategy has evolved. Previous expectations were that approximately 70 additional stores would rebanner before Back-to-School in Fiscal 2026, with the Shoe Station stores then representing 51% of the current store fleet, and that over 90% of our fleet would operate as a Shoe Station store by the end of Fiscal 2028, with remaining locations to be evaluated for potential rebannering, outlet repositioning, or closure. This transition to substantially all Shoe Station stores was expected to generate both inventory reductions, as Shoe Station’s merchandising model requires less inventory per store, as well as cost savings from reduced dual-brand complexity across merchandising, marketing, systems, supply chain and back office.

In evaluating the performance of the 101 stores that were rebannered in Fiscal 2025, particularly Net Sales in the second-half of Fiscal 2025, we observed that, while Shoe Station's e-commerce results have been a meaningful contributor to banner-level sales growth, demonstrating strong consumer response to the Shoe Station brand and assortment online, there was significant variability in in-store sales performance across rebannered locations, with some stores performing well and others not achieving anticipated results.

As a result, we made the strategic decision to slow the pace of store rebanners in Fiscal 2026 from previously announced timelines to allow time to identify which consumer demographics are responding most favorably to the Shoe Station format, to determine which marketing channels are most effective in driving new customer acquisition, and to refine product mix in rebannered stores to improve in-store conversion. We now expect to rebanner approximately 21 stores during the first half of Fiscal 2026 while this evaluation is conducted.

The Shoe Station banner is expected to continue as our primary growth banner as we leverage our CRM customer data to identify opportunities both within our current markets as well as new markets outside of our current footprint that are best suited for the Shoe Station format.

However, in markets where Shoe Carnival has historically been a dominant family footwear retailer, those stores will continue to operate under the Shoe Carnival banner. The Shoe Carnival banner continues to serve an important customer base in a meaningful number of locations, and we expect to manage both banners accordingly.

Net Sales by Banner

For the past three fiscal years, Shoe Station has been a market leader in the Southeast, and, according to our view of available industry data, Shoe Station has been the fastest growing retailer in our industry in terms of Net Sales growth. During the same period, our Shoe Carnival banner and the family footwear industry experienced comparable stores Net Sales declines.

Net Sales from our Shoe Station banner grew from $99.9 million in Fiscal 2022 (the first full year of our ownership) to $236.7 million in Fiscal 2025 (excluding Net Sales from Rogan’s, which are discussed below). This increase included Net Sales growth of 4.5% in Fiscal 2023, 6.4% in Fiscal 2024, and 2.7% in Fiscal 2025 from both new stores and comparable store Net Sales increases. The remaining increase resulted from base Net Sales that were transferred from Shoe Carnival as stores rebannered.

Conversely, Net Sales from our Shoe Carnival banner declined from $1.161 billion in Fiscal 2022 to $821.8 million in Fiscal 2025. This decrease included Net Sales declines of 7.8% in Fiscal 2023, 5.7% in Fiscal 2024, and 7.7% in Fiscal 2025 from both net store closures and comparable store Net Sales declines. The remaining decrease resulted from base Net Sales that were transferred to Shoe Station as stores rebannered.

With respect to Net Sales transferred between banners, we categorize Net Sales generated from a rebannered store as Shoe Station Net Sales beginning in the month following the month the store rebanners. Net Sales in Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2025 that were transferred from Shoe Carnival to Shoe Station totaled $7.6 million and $111.3 million, respectively. Approximately $149 million of Net Sales were reported as Shoe Carnival and Rogan’s Net Sales until they were rebannered in Fiscal 2025. In Fiscal 2026, those Net Sales will be reported under the Shoe Station banner for the entirety of the year.

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Rogan’s Net Sales were $75.6 million in Fiscal 2025 and $80.3 million in Fiscal 2024. During Fiscal 2025, we transitioned to a more profitable Net Sales approach at Rogan’s, which resulted in Rogan’s generating more product margin in Fiscal 2025 compared to Fiscal 2024, despite the lower Net Sales. With integration fully complete and synergies captured, we expect to no longer separate Rogan’s Net Sales from Shoe Station Net Sales beginning in Fiscal 2026.

Comparable Stores Net Sales

Comparable stores Net Sales is a key performance indicator for us. Comparable stores Net Sales include stores that have been open for 13 full months after such stores’ grand opening or acquisition prior to the beginning of the period, including those stores that have been relocated, remodeled or rebannered. Therefore, stores recently opened, acquired or permanently closed are not included in comparable stores Net Sales. We generally include e-commerce sales in our comparable stores Net Sales as a result of our omnichannel retailer strategy. Due to our omnichannel retailer strategy, we view e-commerce sales as an extension of our physical stores. Rogan’s comparable stores Net Sales were included in our comparable stores Net Sales quarterly calculations beginning in the thirteen weeks ended August 2, 2025 and will begin to be included in our comparable stores Net Sales annual calculations beginning in Fiscal 2026.

Fiscal 2025 Executive Summary

Our Fiscal 2025 Net Income was $52.3 million, or $1.90 per diluted share, and was lower than the $73.8 million, or $2.68 per diluted share, reported in Fiscal 2024. We estimate our Fiscal 2025 Net Income per Diluted Share decreased by approximately $0.66 as a result of our rebanner-related investment, as more fully described below. The decline in Net Income per Diluted Share was also impacted by certain tax credits and other benefits associated with the Rogan’s acquisition that totaled $0.19 in Fiscal 2024 and did not recur in Fiscal 2025. Our Net Income per Diluted Share otherwise increased $0.07 year over year before the impact of these prior year Rogan’s acquisition related benefits and Fiscal 2025 rebanner investments.

Our Net Sales declined 5.6% in Fiscal 2025 compared to Fiscal 2024, primarily due to a 7.7% decline in Net Sales at our Shoe Carnival banner as we maintained pricing discipline despite pressure on lower-income consumers and reduced promotional marketing. In contrast, our Shoe Station banner achieved Net Sales growth of 2.7% in Fiscal 2025 compared to Fiscal 2024, driven by our rebanner strategy, including omnichannel growth. Therefore, our Shoe Station banner’s Net Sales growth in Fiscal 2025 compared to Fiscal 2024 outperformed Shoe Carnival’s Net Sales decline by 10.4 percentage points.

Our comparable stores Net Sales also declined 5.6% and included comparable stores Net Sales growth in Back-to-School August. Our Shoe Station banner grew comparable stores Net Sales low single digits in Fiscal 2025, while comparable stores Net Sales at our Shoe Carnival b

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