Can Steven Madden's Management Reshuffle Boost Growth?
Shoe and fashion accessories retailer, Steven Madden, Ltd. SHOO announced two key promotions at the management level. The company promoted Amelia Newton Varela and Karla Frieders to the newly created positions of President and Chief Merchandising Officer, respectively.
Varela, in her illustrious career of 17 years, held responsible positions at Steve Madden. She started her career at the company in the customer service division and gradually moved up to the position of Executive Vice President of Wholesale segment. Under Varela’s leadership, the Wholesale business grew significantly over the last decade. The business added new brands, product categories and entered distribution channels.
Frieders recently held the office of Executive Vice President of Product Development. In her 16-year tenure in Steven Madden which began at its stores, she held several important positions.
The recent promotions are expected to help Steven Madden turn its tepid quarterly results around. The company reported lower year-over-year earnings in second-quarter fiscal 2015 (reported in Jul 2015) of 40 cents, down 9% from 44 cents. Although net sales improved 9.4% from the year-ago quarter, backed by the retail segment, gross margin shrank 30 basis points (bps) to 35.9% due to higher cost of sales. Operating margin also contracted 220 bps to 11.4% of sales.
Steven Madden currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked shoes and apparel retailers are Skechers USA Inc. SKX and Sequential Brands Group Inc. SQBG. While Skechers sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Sequential brand has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Another textile apparel retailer worth a look is Columbia Sports Inc. COLM with a Zacks Rank #1.
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