Shoe retailer to bring string of 'carnival style' stores to Utah market

Shoe shopping in Utah is about to take on an amusement park-like atmosphere as a national shoe chain prepares to enter the market, bringing with it a new concept that will infuse a little more fun into the shoe-buying experience.

Evansville, Ind.-based Shoe Carnival is planning to open three to four stores in Utah this year and is looking to open 15 to 16 stores throughout the state within the next three years. The first store will open in the Jordan Landing shopping center in West Jordanin July. It will be followed by a new store in Logan in August, Washington in September and another store in the Brickyard area of Salt Lake City either by the end of this year or early 2009.

Additional cities that are being targeted by the shoe store chain in the future include American Fork, Sandy, Centerville, West Valley City, Provo, Orem and Farmington.

"We think the Salt Lake City area is going to be a very viable option for us as a family shoe store," said Todd Beurman, senior vice president of marketing for Shoe Carnival. "We are a growing company. We have about 300 stores and we're continuing to grow and we're expanding west now. We feel very good about the development opportunities in the Salt Lake City area."

Each of the initial four Shoe Carnival stores planned for that openings in 2008 will be 10,000 square feet and will carry a large selection of name brand and private label shoes, including Nike, Adidas, Vans, Converse, Clarks, denies, Easton, Aerology and Timberland.

"We are very competitive with our price points," Beurman said. "We have a deeper product selection and our prices are usually more competitive than other discount shoe stores."

In addition to competitive prices, Shoe Carnival stores are designed to create a fun atmosphere for shoe-shoppers.

"We have a microphoned gentleman at the front that runs in-store specials, so you never know what you're going to get as far as a deal is concerned on some of the product that we have to offer," Beurman said. "He has the ability to run specials throughout the day so you never know what you're going to get - there is always going to be that surprise factor of being able to get a better deal thanyou expected."

Additionally, the stores host contests, games, neon signs, flashing lights and up-tempo music to create an energized shopping atmosphere. There is also a spinning wheel that when brought out throughout the day will allow customers to have a chance to add additional discount opportunities to their shoe purchase. The stores .are color coded with the women's department in green, the children's department in red and the men's area in blue.

"The concept behind our name is that we have what we call a fun shoe-shopping experience," Beurman said. "What sets us apart from the competition is that we not only give a great product at great prices, but we also offer a fun shopping environment and the opportunity to give a better deal potentially when you go in the store."

Shoe Carnival typically locates its shoe stores in strip centers that are anchored by a large apparel-type store, such as a Mervyns, Target, Kohls, Best Buy or JCPenney's, which helps draw some traffic into the area.

The company is publicly traded. Between February 2007 and February 2008, the firm generated sales of $658.7 million. Most of its stores are currently located in 27 states, primarily in the Midwest, South and Southeast. In the western United States, the company has six locations in Colorado and two stores in Idaho. All stores are company owned.

Copyright Enterprise Business Newspaper Inc. May 12, 2008
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