Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) has elected Mario L. Baeza and
Harold "Bud" Wright to its Board of Directors.
Mr. Baeza, 57, is the founder of The Baeza Group, a merchant banking
firm focusing on investments in the U.S. Hispanic market, as well as in
Latin America. In 2006, The Baeza Group partnered with Thirteen/WNET to
form V-Me Media, Inc., a new national Spanish language television
network distributed through the digital channels of public television
affiliate stations in over 30 markets. Mr. Wright, 66, has 38 years of
retail experience, the first 28 as an operating principal of R.H.
Macy's, the department store chain of Macy's, Inc., and the last 10 in
executive search, specializing in retailing. Mr. Wright currently serves
as a partner emeritus of Heidrick & Struggles, a top executive search
firm and has successfully recruited top-level executives in the retail
sector.
"These two individuals will be valuable additions to our board," said
Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm. "Mario brings us an unparalleled
understanding of strategic consumer research, international finance and
entrepreneurship and we welcome Bud's wealth of experience in the retail
market."
Mr. Baeza and Mr. Wright's elections increase the number of Board
members from 11 to 13. In May 2008, at the Brown Shoe annual
shareholders' meeting, they are expected to stand for re-election.
Mr. Baeza has a long and distinguished career in law, investment banking
and private equity investment. In 1995, he founded the first U.S.
Hispanic-owned merchant banking firm focusing on the pan-Hispanic
region. The firm, Baeza & Co., later partnered with Trust Company of the
West to form a Latin American-focused private equity fund. Prior to
forming Baeza & Co., Mr. Baeza was a Managing Director of Wasserstein
Perella, and the Chairman & CEO of Grupo Wasserstein, the Latin American
arm of the firm. Prior to that, he was a partner in the international
law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton. He is a graduate of Cornell University
and Harvard Law School. Mr. Baeza also serves on the boards of Air
Products and Chemicals, Inc., Ariel Mutual Funds, and the Israel
Discount Bank of New York. Additionally, he was the lead director of the
Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
Mr. Wright's career at R.H. Macy, Inc. included stints as Executive Vice
President-Operations for Macy's East and President of Macy's South. In
his more recent career in executive search with Heidrick & Struggles, he
has worked for such clients as Home Depot, Kohl's, and Saks Department
Store Group. He has a B.A. degree from Westminster College in Fulton,
Mo. and a M.A. from the University of Maryland. He lives in Atlanta,
where he serves on several local boards.
About Brown Shoe Company, Inc.
Brown Shoe is a $2.4 billion footwear company with global operations.
Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the approximately
1,100-store chain that sells brand name shoes for the family,
approximately 300 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China
under the Naturalizer, Brown Shoe Closet, FX LaSalle, and Franco Sarto
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, and Carlos by Carlos Santana
and Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear for children.
Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's website at http://www.brownshoe.com.
Web site: http://www.brownshoe.com
