Famous Footwear intends to invest in strong trends they see in the skate shoe business across all genders and expect to see a “huge uptrend” in the business this spring. The retailer also expects to see continued strong momentum in the juniors business, led by sport sandals and clogs, and growing strength in the low-profile, fashion athletic looks from both athletic and non-athletic vendors. But what appears to be most exciting for the mid-market channel is the launch of the new Reax program from Nike, which is a Shox derivative for this channel that will roll out in July.

Famous Footwear’s fourth quarter net sales increased 8.0% to $284.1 million from $263.1 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales grew 4.4% for the quarter as both average selling prices and traffic levels rose for the period. Operating earnings for the division were up 34.4% to $15.0 million, or 5.3% of sales, in Q4, compared to $11.2 million, or 4.3% of sales, for the year-ago quarter.

Joe Wood, president of Famous Footwear, said that the strong fourth quarter results were the result of repositioning the retailer to marketing brand name trend-right product instead of “just selling footwear at a price.” Comps were up in all major categories, led by the women’s business, which posted a double-digit gain for the period. The kid’s business was up in high-single-digits for the period. The men’s business was said to be “very healthy,” with strong sales seen in casual, and sandals and “modest gains” in boots and dress.

The athletics business was said to be “up slightly” across men’s, women’s and girl’s, thanks to strength in the skate and trailrunning categories. Wood said the athletic business was soft in the first part of the quarter when it was colder, but rebounded as weather turned warmer. Wood said he doesn’t expect to see a shift back to traditional athletic footwear “anytime soon” and expects to see the current low-profile looks to stay strong through back-to-school.

For the full year, Famous Footwear sales increased 6.3% to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion in 2004. Same-store sales increased 2.5%. The chain achieved an 11.2% increase in operating earnings to $67.0 million, versus $60.3 million in fiscal 2004.