General Financial Releases
Brown Shoe Reports October Retail Sales; Increases Earnings Guidance for 3rd Quarter and Full Year
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, November 7, 2002 -- Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) today announced that October sales at Famous Footwear, the company's chain of 921 brand-name footwear stores, increased 4.6 percent to $72,200,000 for the four-week period ended November 2, 2002 compared to $69,000,000 for the same period last year (ended November 3, 2001). Same-store sales were up 0.5 percent.Third quarter sales for Famous Footwear were up 4.9 percent to $294,700,000 compared to $281,000,000 for the same 13-week period last year, with same-store sales down 0.6 percent. Year-to-date sales for Famous Footwear increased 3.8 percent to $833,400,000 from $803,200,000, with a 0.8 percent decrease on a same-store basis.
Sales at Brown Shoe's domestic Naturalizer retail division, the 232-store chain selling the Naturalizer brand of women's footwear, were $11,700,000 in October, compared to $11,600,000 for the same period last year on a store-base of 27 percent fewer stores. Naturalizer's same-store sales were up 17.5 percent.
Naturalizer's third quarter sales for the 13 weeks ended November 2, 2002 were $34,600,000 compared to $36,600,000 for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the quarter increased 10.8 percent. For the first 39 weeks of fiscal 2002, Naturalizer stores' sales were $103,500,000 versus $110,800,000 and increased 3.2 percent on a same-store basis.
"Both of our retail chains performed very well in October," said Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm. "Margins at Famous Footwear ran well ahead of plan, and merchandise 'turn' rates and customer purchase conversion ratios continued to increase despite minimal promotional activity in the month. This performance further confirms that the merchandising improvements resulting from our IMPACT initiatives are having significant, positive effects on the chain's profitability.
"Naturalizer's 17.5 percent store-for-store gain reflects the excellent work of our Naturalizer product development and merchandising teams who delivered an outstanding fall shoe collection. From dress to casual, boots to tailored, the fall Naturalizer line produced strong sell-throughs in both our stores and in the department store channel," Fromm said.
"Overall, our business is robust at wholesale, Naturalizer Retail is building excellent momentum, and Famous Footwear's sales have stabilized with improved margins. As a result, we are increasing our guidance for earnings per share to more than $1.10, from $1.00, for the third quarter, which ended November 2," said Fromm. "This will place our earnings per share for the third quarter at least 60 percent ahead of last year, when the company reported $0.68 per share."
Brown Shoe also said today that it is increasing its earnings per share guidance for its 2002 fiscal year to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.20 versus its prior guidance range of $2.10 to $2.15.
MONTH, QUARTER AND YEAR-TO-DATE SALES (millions)
 | FY 2002 (11/02/02) | FY 2001 (11/03/01) | % Change | Same-Store % Change* | Stores Open 11/2/02 vs. 11/03/01 |
| Oct. –Famous Footwear | $ 72.2 | $ 69.0 | 4.6 | 0.5 | 921 vs. 924 |
| 3rd Qtr-Famous Footwear | 294.7 | 281.0 | 4.9 | ( 0.6) | |
| Y-T-D –Famous Footwear | 833.4 | 803.2 | 3.8 | (0.8) | |
| | | | | |
| Oct. –Naturalizer | 11.7 | 11.6 | 0.9 | 17.5 | 232 vs. 319 |
| 3rd Qtr-Naturalizer | 34.6 | 36.6 | (5.5) | 10.8 | |
| Y-T-D –Naturalizer | 103.5 | 110.8 | (6.6) | 3.2 | |
Store Openings for the Month:
Famous Footwear opened new stores in the following markets: Huntsville, AL; Denver, CO; Ocala, FL; Brooklyn, NY; Pearland, TX and Spring, TX.
Naturalizer Retail opened a new store in Valley Stream, NY.
Brown Shoe is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings at 4:05 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 19th. A conference call to discuss third quarter results will be held at 4:30 p.m. EST that same afternoon. While the question-and-answer session of the call will be limited to institutional analysts and investors, retail brokers and individual investors are invited to attend via a live web-cast to be hosted at www.companyboardroom.com. At the website, type BWS into the ticker box to locate the broadcast.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These include general economic conditions, competition, consumer apparel and footwear buying trends, and political and economic conditions in Brazil and China, which are significant footwear sourcing countries. The company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission contain detailed information relating to such factors.
Brown Shoe is a $1.76 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the 900-store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for less. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada that sell the Naturalizer brand of shoes and accessories. Brown Shoe, through its wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie, Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Spider-Man and Bob-the-Builder character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the company's web site at www.brownshoe.com