Edward Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased with our third quarter results … Our retail segment was once again the standout, with a third consecutive quarter of double-digit comparable store sales growth. We also benefited from earnings contributions from the recently acquired Dolce Vita, Blondo and SM Mexico. While the overall retail environment is choppy, we are pleased with the momentum in our business and remain on track to meet our earnings targets for the year.”

Total sales for the quarter reached 413.5 million US dollars increasing by 5.5% from 391.9 million US dollars in similar period last year. Accumulated sales for the first nine months period ended on the 30th of September totaled 1 061.0 million US dollars, up by 6.9% from similar period last year.

Net sales for the wholesale business totaled 357.0 million US dollars in the third quarter, which compares to 343.3 million US dollars in similar period in 2014. Gross margin in the wholesale business increased to 32.1% compared to 31.3% in last year’s third quarter due to improvement in the wholesale footwear segment.

Retail net sales in the third quarter totaled 56.4 million US dollars compared to 48.7 million US dollars in the third quarter of the prior year. Same store sales increased 11.2% for the third quarter. Retail gross margin increased to 60.4% in the third quarter of 2015 compared to 58.9% in the third quarter of 2014 as a result of decreased promotional activity.

During the third quarter, the company opened two full price stores in Canada, one full price store in Mexico and one US outlet location. Steve Madden ended the quarter with 165 company-operated retail locations, including 120 full price stores, 37 outlets, four Internet stores and four joint venture locations in South Africa.

Based on lower-than-anticipated back half sales in its private label footwear business, Steve Madden has adjusted its sales outlook for fiscal year 2015 and is now expecting net sales to increase 6% to 7% over net sales in 2014.