Keds Goes on the Road With Pop-Rock Group 'The Veronicas'

Keds Goes on the Road With Pop-Rock Group 'The Veronicas'

LEXINGTON, Mass., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Keds Corporation, a subsidiary of Stride Rite Corp., announced today that the footwear brand has entered into a co-marketing deal with pop-rock duo The Veronicas and Sire Records for their Spring 2006 US tour.

Their first nationwide headlining tour kicked off in Sacramento, California January 28, ends in San Diego in March and stops in New York to celebrate the release of their album The Secret Life Of... at the Avalon Feb 14. Keds is pairing up with the label for concert advertising and venue signage; along with radio promotions that include ticket give-aways and meet & greets; web promotions on http://www.keds.com/ with online links to band blogs and streaming music; and retail tie-ins to include in-store promotions and acoustic performances by The Veronicas at select stores. In addition, the group will perform a private concert for Keds and their guests on March 25th in Los Angeles, where the girls will take the stage in Keds' latest styles, such as the distressed champion, dolce fruit skimmers and kitchy skimmers.

The Veronicas, Jess and Lisa Origliasso, 21-year old twins from Brisbane, Australia, will release their debut album The Secret Life Of... on Sire Records Feb 14th. Their debut single "4ever" earned the pair a special ARIA nomination (Australia Recording Industry Association) as "Breakthrough Artist" in their homeland of Australia, where the album was released in October. Meanwhile in the US, The Veronicas have already charted on MTV's Total Request Live and were named an AOL Breaker artist by AOL Music and Radio Networks where they pick artists they believe are the next "big thing." Already receiving critical praises, The Veronicas have been featured in Teen Vogue, Teen People, Paper, Interview, ElleGirl, OK and Blender Magazines.

"We are excited to partner with The Veronicas on their US tour. The girls' edgy, lyrical sound coupled with their hip sense of style and fashion is the perfect fit for the Keds brand. Our association with The Veronicas is a cool way to continue to expose the Keds brand to this very important and influential younger consumer," says Jennifer Weiderman, Vice President of Marketing for Keds.

About The Keds Corp.

The Keds Corp. is a subsidiary of the Stride Rite Corp., a company that markets the leading brand of high quality children's shoes in the United States. Other footwear products for children and adults are marketed by the Company under well-known brand names, including Keds, Pro-Keds, Sperry Top-Sider, Tommy Hilfiger, Grasshoppers and Munchkin. Information about the Company is available on website -- http://www.strideritecorp.com/. Information about the Company's brands and product lines is available at http://www.striderite.com/, http://www.keds.com/, http://www.prokeds.com/ and http://www.sperrytopsider.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This announcement includes forward-looking statements which reflect our current views with respect to the future events or financial performance discussed in the release, based on management's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available. When used, the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "should," "expect," "appear" and similar expressions which do not relate solely to historical matters identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are not guarantees of future events or performance, which may be affected by known and unknown risks, trends and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, projected or implied. Factors that may cause such a variance include, among others: the opening of new stores may be delayed; the volume of anticipated sales may decline; revenues from new product lines may fall below expectations; the launch of new product lines may be delayed; new retail concepts may not achieve expected results; general retail sales trends may be below expectations; current license agreements may be terminated; consumer fashion trends may shift to footwear styling not currently included in our product lines; our retail customers, including large department stores, may consolidate or restructure operations resulting in unexpected store closings; and additional factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements.

Source: The Keds Corporation

CONTACT: Monalisa Saenz of LaForce + Stevens, +1-212-242-9353,
msaenz@laforce-stevens.com; or Debra Fernandes of Keds Corporation,
+1-617-824-6471, Debra_fernandes@striderite.com

Web site: http://www.keds.com/
http://www.striderite.com/
http://www.prokeds.com/
http://www.sperrytopsider.com/

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