Content about Brown Shoe Co.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. reported Friday that net income of the fourth quarter was $4 million, compared with a loss of $8.2 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose to $640.2 million from $628.9 million.

For full year 2012, profit edged up to $27.5 million from $24.6 million. Sales increased to $2.59 billion from $2.58 billion.

New York -- Brown Shoe Company has acquired the Sam & Libby brand and reunited it with its founders, Sam and Libby Edelman. For the last eight years, the brand was owned by The Jones Group.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Monday that while profit rose dramatically in the third quarter thanks to a business unit divestiture, the retailer will cut several of its lines and close underperforming stores nationwide to shore up profitability.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co., parent to the Famous Footwear chain, reported Thursday a loss of $4.6 million for the second quarter, compared with a profit of $5.3 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 7.2% to $628.1 million, from $585.8 million.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Thursday that it has acquired privately held athletic shoe maker American Sporting Goods Corp. for $145 million.

The acquisition broadens the reach of Brown Shoe, which makes Dr. Scholl's, LifeStride, Franco Sarto and other brands and operates Naturalizer and Famous Footwear stores. ASG's brands include Avia, Ryka women's fitness footwear and AND1 basketball shoes for men and boys.

Eighteen months ago, the word in retail was contraction. Talk of expansion was mostly shelved, pending some kind of palpable turnaround in the economy.


Today, as 2010 comes to a close and all eyes are trained on 2011, discussion about adding stores is supplanting talk of closures. But, caution the experts, retail growth should unfold slowly and strategically, and not with the optimistic abandon of years past.


St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. will test a new retail format, called Mind Body Sole by Famous Footwear, that offers a wide range of fitness footwear for active consumers. The shops, opening in five locations by yearend, will feature footwear for running, walking, hiking, toning and more from top brands including Nike, Reebok, ASICS, Skechers, New Balance, Avia, Saucony, Adidas and K-Swiss.