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Shoe Carnival adds 3 new stores to Puerto Rico footprint

Todd Beurman, senior vice president of marketing addresses the media during the official opening of the new Plaza Caparra store Tuesday.

Todd Beurman, senior vice president of marketing addresses the media during the Tuesday opening of the new Plaza Caparra store.

A little less than 18 months after entering the local market footwear retailer Shoe Carnival is keeping its momentum going with the addition of three new stores this month, and plans to open at least five more in the next two years, Todd Beurman, senior vice president of marketing, said Tuesday.

Two of those new stores already opened, in Plaza Caparra in Guaynabo and Plaza Fajardo, while the third is slated to open today at Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas, adding a total of about 30,000 square feet of new retail space to the island’s mix.

Each store will range in size between approximately 9,000 to 11,000 square feet and employ between 80 to 90 full and part time associates covering all three stores. Those jobs are in addition to the 230 already in place at the chain’s four existing stores, Beurman said.

“With these three openings we continue to demonstrate our commitment to Puerto Rico and our support for the local economy. We already celebrated a year here in the island, and during this time we have been able to prove that Shoe Carnival is a good fit in the Puerto Rico market for retail sales,” he said. “We started with two stores and we’re now going to have seven.”

“We’ve suffered the same kind of recession in the states but I think that one of the key things that we bring is that our pricing and our product is really value-driven and it seems that folks still need shoes, and the fact that we offer them at such a compelling value has helped us weather the recession better than others,” he said.

Shoe Carnival stores offers a variety of affordable styles in athletic and casual footwear, boots and accessories for the entire family as well as entertaining buying format.  Top brands include Nike, Adidas, Puma, Crocs, Skechers, Rocketdog, Asics, Fila, Sperry, GBX, Converse, Makers, Reebok, Clarks, New Balance, Florsheim, and Madden, among others.

While Beurman could not say how much Shoe Carnival is investing in its of its new store openings, he did say that sales are going well so far.

“The stores down here are performing above our average. That’s a good thing and that’s why we’re comfortable investing,” he said. “Since we’ve opened on the island, we’ve sold more than 500,000 pairs of shoes.”

The solidity and growth plans of Shoe Carnival on the island are firm, he said.

In addition to these three stores, the company plans to continue expanding and expect to have about 12 stores in Puerto Rico within two to three years. The retailer expects to open the in Rexville Plaza in Bayamón in 2014, he said.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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