BROWN SHOE DECLARES REGULAR QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, March 8, 2001 – The Board of directors of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) today announced a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable April 2, 2001 to shareholders of record on March 19, 2001.

This dividend will be the 313th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company.

Brown Shoe is a $1.7 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the Famous Footwear and Naturalizer chains of footwear retail stores and markets leading brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Buster Brown, and licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's, Barbie and other character footwear.

Brown Shoe press releases are available by fax through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call fax service at 800-758-5804, extension 109435. Brown Shoe information also is available on the Company's web site at http://www.brownshoe.com.