Brown Shoe Adds Senior Leadership Team for American Sporting Goods Division

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) (www.brownshoe.com) has made four strategic additions to the leadership team within its American Sporting Goods (ASG) division, appointing James M. Hoff as vice president-Sales across all ASG brands, Alan Vickers as vice president-International, Brad Little as vice president & brand manager-Avia® and Nevados®, and Jorge Cabrera as vice president-Athletic Product Development.

Timothy J. Joyce, who took on the role of senior vice president & general manager of ASG in May, was instrumental in the selection of the vice presidents. The evolution of the new ASG team is the result of a six-month transition following Brown Shoe's acquisition of ASG in February, adding the Avia, ryka®, AND 1® and Nevados brands to the healthy living area of its portfolio.

"With this tremendous leadership team now in place, coupled with Tim Joyce and the existing ASG talent, we are moving forward to truly realizing our investment in ASG.  Strengthening these brands continues our commitment to consumers pursuing healthy lifestyles, and expands the reach to customers of our performance athletic, sport and outdoor offerings," said Brown Shoe president and chief executive officer Diane Sullivan.

Hoff, Vickers

Hoff will be responsible for sales and distribution strategies across the entire ASG family of brands, working closely with vice president-Sales Bob Echterling.  He has nearly 20 years of experience with ASICS America, most recently as vice president, Sales-Athletic Footwear, Apparel, Accessories, where he led sales management teams for North, Central and South America.  Vickers will guide the division's international expansion by refining and broadening retail distribution and merchandising.  He brings to Brown Shoe a thorough knowledge of the international sports and consumer goods markets honed through a series of management positions with companies like Reebok, Nautilus and Starbuck's throughout North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including four years as president of Nike France.

Little, Cabrera

Little's responsibilities for the Avia and Nevados brands include product development leadership and advancing brand strategy through consumer insights.  He brings to Brown Shoe more than 25 years of brand management, sales, marketing and product development experience in the athletic footwear and apparel industries with Le Chameau premium handcrafted rubber boots, Decker's Outdoor, Columbia Sportswear and Nike.  Little started in the industry with adidas, growing the brand's running business in a series of positions over seven years.  Cabrera joined Brown Shoe in 2010 to oversee product development and design of athletic footwear across several healthy living brands, and now moves to focus exclusively on ASG.  His background includes more than 22 years of experience in athletic footwear and apparel manufacturing, operations, product development, and logistics, most recently as vice president-Operations and Manufacturing at Brooks Sports.  Prior to joining Brooks Sports in 1992, Cabrera held production-focused positions at Wolverine Worldwide and LA Gear.

"Jim and Alan's expertise setting successful domestic and international sales strategies in the sport, fitness and wellness areas are critical to our efforts to expand distribution to existing customers and add new ones, driving sustainable growth for ASG brands.  Brad's vision and product development knowledge paired with Jorge's prowess with performance design and technology will enable us to connect more deeply with consumers as we enhance each brand's positioning in the marketplace," said Joyce.

About American Sporting Goods Division

ASG's key brands include Avia athletic shoes for men, women and children, ryka women's fitness footwear, AND 1 basketball shoes for men and boys and Nevados outdoor footwear for men, women and children. Avia has a more than 30-year history of offering technical running, walking and fitness footwear featuring innovative technology at a value. Its offerings appeal to hard-core runners and casual walkers alike. ryka is a women's fitness and lifestyle brand created to accommodate the unique needs of a woman's physiology. The brand embraces healthy lifestyles and celebrating women by maintaining alliances throughout the women's fitness community, and counts daytime television's Kelly Ripa as a partner. AND 1 is a men's performance basketball and lifestyle brand that caters to basketball participants and enthusiasts. The brand's global appeal is driven by its authentic heritage in the sport and advanced technology features to enhance players' game. Nevados hiking and trail footwear and sport sandals offer a combination of performance technology, comfort and value for adults and kids that are passionate about outdoor adventures.

About Brown Shoe Company, Inc.

Brown Shoe is a $2.7 billion global footwear company. Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear™, a leading family branded footwear destination with over 1,100 stores nationwide and e-commerce site FamousFootwear.com, approximately 250 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China primarily under the Naturalizer® brand name, and footwear e-tailer shoes.com. Through its wholesale divisions, Brown Shoe designs and markets leading fashion and athletic footwear brands including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's®, LifeStride®, Sam Edelman®, Franco Sarto™, Via Spiga®, Etienne Aigner™, Vera Wang Lavender™, Avia®, ryka®, AND 1®, and Buster Brown™. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's website at www.brownshoe.com.

SOURCE Brown Shoe Company, Inc.