COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 20, 2025 - Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE: DBI) (the "Company," "we," "us," "our," and "Designer Brands"), one of the world's largest designers, producers, and retailers of footwear and accessories, today announced financial results for the three months and year ended February 1, 2025.

"Positive comparable sales in the fourth quarter reflect a return to growth for the first time in nine quarters, highlighting the success of our strategic initiatives throughout the year," stated Doug Howe, Chief Executive Officer. "This year's achievements are a direct result of our decisive actions and commitment to refresh and strengthen our leadership, revitalize and modernize our assortment, refine our marketing strategies, right size our brand portfolio, and elevate our customers' omnichannel experience."

Howe continued, "Looking ahead to 2025, we are confident that our ongoing business transformation will drive continued stability and growth, with expectations to significantly increase EPS compared to our 2024 adjusted results. We anticipate our reinvigorated efforts to be customer-first and product obsessed will help us better understand our customers and strengthen our product offerings through a data-driven approach. Although we do see pressure on the consumer in the short term as a result of ongoing inflation, rising prices and less discretionary income, we believe these initiatives will drive improved financial performance through 2025 and continue to position us well for long-term, sustainable growth."

Fourth Quarter Operating Results (Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons are to the fourth quarter of 2023)

•Net sales decreased 5.4% to $713.6 million.

•Total comparable sales increased by 0.5%.

•Gross profit decreased to $282.6 million versus $292.6 million last year, and gross margin was 39.6% compared to 38.8% last year.

•Reported net loss attributable to Designer Brands Inc. was $38.2 million, or loss per diluted share of $0.80.

•Adjusted net loss was $21.3 million, or $0.44 loss per diluted share.

Full Year Operating Results (Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons are to full year 2023)

•Net sales decreased 2.1% to $3.0 billion.

•Total comparable sales decreased by 1.7%.

•Gross profit decreased to $1.29 billion versus $1.32 billion last year, and gross margin was 42.7% compared to 43.1% last year.

•Reported net loss attributable to Designer Brands Inc. was $10.5 million, or loss per diluted share of $0.20.

•Adjusted net income was $15.0 million, or adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of $0.27.

•Cash and cash equivalents totaled $44.8 million at the end of 2024, compared to $49.2 million at the end of 2023, with $127.3 million available for borrowings under our senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility. Debt totaled $491.0 million at the end of 2024 compared to $427.1 million at the end of 2023.

•Net cash provided by operating activities was $82.2 million for 2024 compared to $162.4 million last year.

•Inventories totaled $599.8 million at the end of 2024, compared to $571.3 million at the end of 2023.

•During 2024, the Company repurchased an aggregate 10.3 million Class A common shares at an aggregate cost of $68.6 million. As of February 1, 2025, $19.7 million of Class A common shares remained available for future repurchase under the share repurchase program.

•A dividend of $0.05 per share of Class A and Class B common shares will be paid on April 11, 2025 to

shareholders of record at the close of business on March 28, 2025.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company closed two stores in the United States ("U.S.") and closed four stores in Canada, resulting in a total of 494 stores in the U.S. and 175 stores in Canada as of February 1, 2025.

The Company has announced the following guidance for the full year 2025:

The Company is hosting a conference call today at 8:30 am Eastern Time. Investors and analysts interested in participating in the call are invited to dial 1-888-317-6003, or the international dial in, 1-412-317-6061, and reference conference ID number 3141611 approximately ten minutes prior to the start of the conference call. The conference call will also be broadcast live over the internet and can be accessed through the following link, as well as through the Company's investor website at investors.designerbrands.com:

https://app.webinar.net/AOd2N6dpl4r

For those unable to listen to the live webcast, an archived version will be available at the same location until April 3, 2025. A replay of the teleconference will be available by dialing the following numbers:

U.S.: 1-877-344-7529

Canada: 1-855-669-9658

International: 1-412-317-0088

Passcode: 5154029

Important information may be disseminated initially or exclusively via the Company’s investor website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Designer Brands is one of the world's largest designers, producers, and retailers of the most recognizable footwear brands and accessories, transforming and defining the footwear industry through a mission of being shoe obsessed. With a diversified, world-class portfolio of coveted brands, including Topo Athletic, Keds, Vince Camuto, Kelly & Katie, Jessica Simpson, Lucky Brand, Mix No. 6, Crown Vintage and others, Designer Brands designs and produces on-trend footwear and accessories for all of life's occasions delivered to the consumer through a robust direct-to-consumer omni-channel infrastructure and powerful national wholesale distribution. Powered by a billion-dollar digital commerce business across multiple domains and over 650 DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, The Shoe Co., and Rubino stores in North America, Designer Brands delivers current, in-line footwear and accessories from the largest national brands in the industry and holds leading market share positions in key product categories across women's, men's, and kids'. Designer Brands also distributes its brands internationally through select wholesale and distributor relationships while also leveraging design and sourcing expertise to build private label products for national retailers. Designer Brands is committed to being a difference maker in the world and the footwear industry. By leading with our corporate values of We Belong and We Do What's Right, Designer Brands supports the global community and the health of the planet by donating more than eleven million pairs of shoes to the global non-profit Soles4Souls since 2018. To learn more, visit www.designerbrands.com.

Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as "outlook," "could," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "would," "seeks," "approximately," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates," or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. These statements are based on the Company's current views and expectations and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of the Company's control, that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: uncertain general economic and financial conditions, including economic volatility and potential downturn or recession, supply chain disruptions, new or increased tariffs and other barriers to trade, fluctuating interest rates, unemployment rates, and inflationary pressures, and the related impacts to consumer discretionary spending, as well as our ability to plan for and respond to the impact of these conditions; our ability to anticipate and respond to rapidly changing consumer preferences, seasonality, customer expectations, and fashion trends; the impact on our consumer traffic and demand, our business operations, and the operations of our suppliers, as we experience unseasonable weather, climate change evolves, and the frequency and severity of weather events increases; our ability to execute on our business strategies, including growing our Brand Portfolio segment, enhancing in-store and digital shopping experiences, and meeting consumer demands; our ability to successfully and efficiently integrate our recent acquisitions in a manner that does not impede growth; our ability to maintain strong relationships with our suppliers, vendors, licensors, and retailer customers; risks related to losses or disruptions associated with our distribution systems, including our distribution centers and stores, whether as a result of reliance on third-party providers or otherwise; risks related to cyber security threats and privacy or data security breaches or the potential loss or disruption of our information technology ("IT") systems, or those of our vendors; risks related to the implementation of new or updated IT systems; our ability to protect our reputation and to maintain the brands we license; our reliance on our reward programs and marketing to drive traffic, sales, and customer loyalty; our ability to successfully integrate new hires or changes in leadership and retain our existing management team, and to continue to attract qualified new personnel; risks related to restrictions imposed by our senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility, as amended, and our senior secured term loan credit agreement, as amended, that could limit our ability to fund our operations; our competitiveness with respect to style, price, brand availability, shopping platforms, and customer service; risks related to our international operations and our reliance on foreign sources for merchandise; our ability to comply with laws and regulations, as well as other legal obligations; risks associated with climate change and other corporate responsibility issues; and uncertainties related to future legislation, regulatory reform, policy changes, or interpretive guidance on existing legislation.

Risks and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are described in the Company's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K or our other reports made or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the time when made. Except as may be required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any future events or circumstances.

(unaudited)

Beginning with the fourth quarter of 2024, we changed our financial statement presentation related to expenses associated with distribution and fulfillment and store occupancy for the U.S. Retail and Canada Retail segments. These expenses were previously included within cost of sales and are now included within operating expenses in order to present all of our operating segments on a consistent basis. Prior period reclassifications were made to conform to the current period presentation in the consolidated statements of operations. These reclassifications did not change operating profit (loss), net income (loss) attributable to Designer Brands Inc., earnings (loss) per share attributable to Designer Brands Inc., or any other consolidated financial statements. The below tables present amounts prior to and after the reclassifications.

(unaudited and in thousands)

To supplement amounts presented in our consolidated financial statements determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), the Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating profit (loss), adjusted net income (loss), and adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share as shown in the table above. These measures adjust for the effects of: (1) CEO transition costs; (2) restructuring and integration costs, including severance charges; (3) acquisition-related costs; (4) impairment charges; (5) foreign currency transaction losses (gains); (6) the net tax impact of such items, including discrete and permanent tax on non-deductible CEO transition costs; (7) the change in the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets; and (8) net income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest. The unaudited adjusted results should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with GAAP. These financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors to increase comparability to prior periods by adjusting for certain items that may not be indicative of core operating measures and to better identify trends in our business. The adjusted financial results are used by management to, and allow investors to, evaluate the operating performance of the Company compared to prior periods, when reviewed in conjunction with the Company's GAAP statements. These amounts are not determined in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be used exclusively in evaluating the Company's business and operations.

We consider the percent change in comparable sales from the same previous year period, a primary metric commonly used throughout the retail industry, to be an important measurement for management and investors of the performance of our direct-to-consumer businesses. We include in our comparable sales metric sales from stores in operation for at least 14 months at the beginning of the applicable year. Stores are added to the comparable base at the beginning of the year and are dropped for comparative purposes in the quarter in which they are closed. Comparable sales include the e-commerce sales of the U.S. Retail and Canada Retail segments. For calculating comparable sales in 2024, periods in 2023 are shifted by one week to compare similar calendar weeks. Comparable sales for the Canada Retail segment exclude the impact of foreign currency translation and are calculated by translating current period results at the foreign currency exchange rate used in the comparable period of the prior year.

Stores added as a result of the Rubino acquisition that will have been in operation for at least 14 months at the beginning of 2025, along with its e-commerce sales, will be added to the comparable base for the Canada Retail segment beginning with the second quarter of 2025. Comparable sales include the e-commerce net sales of the Brand Portfolio segment from the direct-to-consumer e-commerce sites. The calculation of comparable sales varies across the retail industry and, as a result, the calculations of other retail companies may not be consistent with our calculation.

CONTACT: Stacy Turnof, DesignerBrandsIR@edelman.com