Sep 3, 2026 earnings call — Earnings improved despite lower sales
Revenue decreased 3% to $530 million while adjusted diluted loss per share improved to $0.83.
Revenue $0.5B (est $0.5B) · EPS $-0.83 (est $-1.37)
Key quotes
"We have increased our media spend over 30%, and the campaign has already delivered over 260 million media impressions in the first 4 weeks of an 8-week flight."
"Schuh's gross margin improved 300 basis points over last year as we prioritized full price selling over discounting and promotions with a full price mix increasing by 10 full percentage points of overall sales."
"As we continue to execute the enterprise wide structural cost savings initiative announced earlier in the year, I want to provide additional color on the $40 million to $50 million opportunity."
Analyst Q&A 4
Which shoe types drove Journeys' sales
Q (Joseph Civello · Truist): The analyst asked which product categories at Journeys drove the strong comps — athletic, canvas, boots, or others.
A: Management said Journeys showed broad, multi-brand momentum across athletic, canvas and casual. About 8+ brands provided growth; low-profile styles, ballerinas and Mary Janes added newness, lifestyle running and sandals also performed — more growth came from lifestyle athletic than casual.
"I would say we had about, about 8+ brands providing growth in the quarter." — Mimi Eckel Vaughn (CEO·CHAIR)
Legacy athletic styles and promotion risk
Q (Mitch Kummetz · Seaport Research Partners): The analyst asked about exposure to legacy athletic silhouettes, whether competitor promotion could be a risk in the back half, and later asked about non-athletic Mary Jane/ballet opportunities and boots versus weather.
A: Management said lifestyle athletic was the quarter’s strongest area and that Journeys benefits from selling many brands, so pressure tied to specific brands is less of an issue. They expect more promotional activity later in the year but noted the athletic space “has been quite promotional for some time”; they also see opportunity for Mary Jane and ballet styles on the casual side. On boots, management said Journeys’ boots are fashion-led and it’s too early to read demand until cooler fall weather arrives.
"We do, but it really has been quite promotional for some time now within the athletic space." — Mimi Eckel Vaughn (CEO·CHAIR)
Comps and online vs. stores for divisions
Q (Sam Poser · Williams Trading): The analyst asked how comps varied across the other divisions — Schuh and Johnston & Murphy — and asked for clarification about Journeys’ August acceleration and Schuh’s product mix progress.
A: Management said Journeys had positive comps in both stores and e-commerce, with online traffic helped by the Life on Loud campaign. Schuh pulled back on promotions, which disproportionately hurt online customers, while stores held up and expenses were reduced; Johnston & Murphy had a catalog pullback that hit online but its fall assortment is now driving online strength. They said Journeys comps accelerated into the mid single digits, expect Journeys comps to stay positive, expect Schuh to fall off later, and that Schuh’s assortment is improving but the full impact has not been seen yet.
"So we were delighted that Journeys, had positive comps in both the store channel as well as online." — Mimi Eckel Vaughn (CEO·CHAIR)
What drives future comp growth (traffic, conversion, AUR)
Q (Kiley Kahoe · Jefferies): The analyst asked, as Journeys increases marketing and expands the 4.0 store format, how much of future comp gains will come from traffic, conversion, and AUR.
A: No management answer is included in the provided transcript for this question. The transcript stops after the analyst’s question, so management’s response is not available here.