Brown Shoe Partners with Nickelodeon in New Lines of Kids' Footwear

Brown Shoe Partners with Nickelodeon in New Lines of Kids' Footwear

ST. LOUIS, March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brown Shoe Company (NYSE:BWS) ( http://www.brownshoe.com/ ) announced today that its Buster Brown & Co. kids' division has formed a strategic multi-property licensing agreement with Nickelodeon, the number one entertainment brand for kids.

The two companies plan to collaborate to create and launch several lines of footwear based on Nickelodeon's newest television programs.

The first four collections will ship to retail stores in July, just in time for the back-to-school season. The lines include a full assortment of casual shoes, boots, sport fusion athletic shoes and slippers featuring popular Nick Jr. characters from Go, Diego, Go! (for boys) and Backyardigans (girls and boys) for ages 2-6, as well as new girls' fashion brands based on the Nickelodeon shows Unfabulous and Zoey 101.

"This partnership with Nickelodeon enables us to give kids the Nickelodeon brands they know and love in stylish, fun footwear," said Brown Shoe director of marketing and licensing, Todd Murray. "Our Nickelodeon footwear will be as dynamic and engaging as the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows."

Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products manages the third largest licensing business in the world with $4.7 billion in retail sales in 2004, from such properties as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. The department handles the merchandising for Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTVN International, and Spike TV.

Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number- one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. More information is available at http://www.nick.com/ .

Brown Shoe is a $2.3 billion footwear company with global operations. The Company operates the 900+ store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for the family. It also operates 300+ specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada under the Naturalizer, FX LaSalle and Via Spiga stores that sell Via Spiga names, and Shoes.com, the Company's e-commerce subsidiary. Brown Shoe, through its Wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Via Spiga, Nickels Soft, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl's, Etienne Aigner, Bass and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's web site at http://www.brownshoe.com/ .

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These include (i) general economic conditions and the consumer's preferences and purchasing patterns, which may be influenced by consumers' disposable income; (ii) the uncertainties of currently pending litigation; (iii) intense competition within the footwear industry; and (iv) political and economic conditions or other threats to continued and uninterrupted flow of inventory from Brazil and China, where the Company relies heavily on third-party manufacturing facilities for a significant amount of its inventory. The Company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission contain detailed information relating to such factors. The Company does not undertake any obligation or plan to update these forward- looking statements, even though its situation may change.

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Source: Brown Shoe Company

CONTACT: Beth Fagan or Erin Conroy, both for Brown Shoe Company,
+1-314-854-4095

Web site: http://www.brownshoe.com/
http://www.nick.com/

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