SEC Form S-8 filed by Caleres Inc.

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 28, 2026

Registration No. 333-​ ​

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM S-8

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REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

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Caleres, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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8300 Maryland Avenue

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including zip code)

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Caleres, Inc.

Incentive and Stock Compensation Plan of 2026

(Full title of the plan)

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Thomas C. Burke

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Caleres, Inc.

8300 Maryland Avenue

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

(Name and address of agent for service)

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(314) 854-4000

(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

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PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

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The documents containing the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 (the plan information, registrant information and employee plan annual information) will be sent or given to participants in the Caleres, Inc. Incentive and Stock Compensation Plan of 2026 (the “Plan”) as specified in Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In accordance with the instructions to Part I, those documents are not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) as part of this Registration Statement or a prospectus under Rule 424 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

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PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

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Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

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The following documents filed by Caleres, Inc. (the “Company” or “Registrant”) with the Commission (File No. 001-02191) are hereby incorporated by reference:

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In addition, all documents subsequently filed by the Registrant with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) subsequent to the effective date of this Registration Statement, but prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement indicating that all securities offered hereby have been sold or de-registering all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents (but this shall not include any information that is merely furnished to the Commission). These documents include periodic reports, such as Proxy Statements, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K (other than information furnished under Items 2.02 and 7.01, which is deemed not to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement). Any statement contained herein, in an amendment hereto, or in any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference, which statement is also incorporated herein by reference, modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

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Not applicable.

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Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

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Thomas C. Burke, 8300 Maryland Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63105, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the Company, has rendered an opinion as to the legality of the Common Stock being registered hereby. Mr. Burke is paid a salary and bonus by the Company and participates in certain of the Company’s employee benefit plans, may participate in the Plan in the future, and is the beneficial owner of less than one percent of the outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Company.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

The following summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of Sections 715, 717 and 721 through 725 of the New York Business Corporation Law and the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the Company.

New York law authorizes a corporation to indemnify any person made, or threatened to be made, a party to any action or proceeding, civil or criminal, other than a shareholders’ derivative action, by reason of being a director or officer of the corporation or serving any other entity in any capacity (at the request of the corporation), against judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, in connection therewith, if such director or officer acted in good faith, for a purpose he or she reasonably believed to be in, or, in the case of service to any other  entity, not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation and, in criminal proceedings, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.  A corporation may indemnify any person made, or threatened to be made, a party to a shareholders’ derivative action, in the circumstances and to the extent described in the preceding sentence, except that in such case no indemnification shall be made for a threatened action, or a pending action which is settled or otherwise disposed of, or any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation, unless and only to the extent the court finds that such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to such indemnification.  Any person who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of a civil or criminal proceeding as described above in this paragraph, shall be entitled to indemnification under New York law.

New York law provides that its statutory provisions relating to indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other indemnification to which a director or officer may be entitled by reason of the certificate of incorporation, bylaws, or, if authorized by the certificate or bylaws, by reason of a resolution of the stockholders or the directors as of an agreement with the corporation, provided that no indemnification may be made to or on behalf of an officer or director if a final adjudication adverse to the director or officer establishes that his or her acts were committed in bad faith or were the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and were material to the cause of action adjudicated, or that such officer or director personally gained a financial profit or other advantage to which he or she was not legally entitled.

The bylaws of the Company provide that the Company shall indemnify any director and officer, and may indemnify any employee or agent, of the Company, or of any other entity if requested by the Company to serve as such, against any claim, liability or expense incurred as a result of such service, to the maximum extent permitted by law.  To the extent that such employee or agent has been successful in the defense of a civil or criminal proceeding arising out of such service, such employee or agent shall be entitled to such indemnification.  The bylaws also provide that such indemnification is not exclusive of any other indemnification to which such director, officer, employee or agent might be entitled and authorize the Company to enter into agreements with any such director, officer, employee or agent, providing such rights of indemnification as the Board of Directors deems appropriate, provided that any such agreement shall not provide for indemnification of such a director or officer if a judgment or other final adjudication adverse to

such director or officer establishes that his or her acts were committed in bad faith or were the result of active or deliberate dishonesty and were material to the cause of action adjudicated, or that he or she personally gained a financial profit or other advantage to which such director or officer was not legally entitled.  Finally, the Company may purchase and maintain insurance to indemnify any such director, officer, employee or agent, to the maximum extent allowed by law, whether or not the Company would otherwise have the power to indemnify such person.

The directors and officers of the Company are insured under a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

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Item 8. Exhibits.

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Item 9. Undertakings.

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(a)The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

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(1)To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

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(i)To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

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(ii)To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

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(iii)To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

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provided, however, that Paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with

or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

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(2)That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

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(3)To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

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(b)The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

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(c)Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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SIGNATURES

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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the County of St. Louis, State of Missouri, on this 28th day of May, 2026.

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POWER OF ATTORNEY

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KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints John W. Schmidt, Daniel L. Karpel and Thomas C. Burke and each of them (with full power to each of them to act alone), his or her true and lawful attorneys in fact and agents for him or her and on his or her behalf and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with exhibits and any and all other documents filed with respect thereto, with the Commission (or any other governmental or regulatory authority), granting unto said attorneys, and each of them, full power and authority to do and to perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises in order to effectuate the same as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do if personally present, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys in fact and agents, or any of them, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated on.

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