[1] In 1988 the company moved to the unitary ownership of Wayne Weaver, a former executive with the Wohl division of the St. Louis-based Brown Group, who bought out his associates Fisher and Camuto for just under $20 million.

[2] A brightly painted Shoe Carnival bus and widely publicized grand opening events featuring celebrities and star athletes helped drive shopper enthusiasm for the chain.

[1] The company placed significant emphasis on private-label brands through the 1990s, hitting lower price points in competition with such national chains as Payless Shoe Source.

[3] This began to change in 1997 when department store veteran Cliff Sifford was added as General Merchandise Manager, with the company consciously attempting to become more "upmarket" through a new emphasis on branded footwear.

Shoe Carnival's headquarters are now located in a new 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building at Cross Pointe Commerce Center on the east side of Evansville.

[1] In October of that same year, General Merchandise Manager Sifford was promoted to chief executive officer when former CEO Mark Lemond, who had been with the company since 1987, stepped down for health reasons.

[1] Together with further expansion to more than 400 retail stores, this e-commerce initiative lead to the company reaching the $1 billion mark in total sales for the year 2016.

[6] According to Chief Financial Officer Kerry Jackson, speaking to Footwear News in 2018 digital sales were the fastest-growing part of Shoe Carnival's business, with the company making a concerted effort to expand its presence among internet shoppers.