Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS)(http://www.brownshoe.com),
announced today that it has chosen SAP (NYSE: SAP) to provide its core
enterprise resource management platform (ERP) for the organization. The
implementation of the SAP solution is expected to support Brown Shoe's
growth strategy while streamlining and transforming day-to-day
operations for the company's integrated business model.
This move is another key step in Brown Shoe's earnings enhancement plan
as the company continuously finds ways to foster collaboration among its
divisions and partners, increase its speed-to-market, and strengthen its
connection with consumers.
"The anticipated multi-year implementation of the SAP ERP application is
an integral step in Brown Shoe's efforts to create an interconnected
business model and leverage our inter-company synergies to better meet
the needs of our customers," said Ron Fromm, Chairman and CEO of Brown
Shoe. "As a proven, scalable operating platform, SAP is expected to be a
key enabler toward reaching our strategic goals of becoming the leading
fashion footwear marketer."
Implementing SAP's system is expected to support Brown Shoe's goals of
growth and profitability by aligning its information technology (IT)
operations on a single, scalable and flexible platform that supports its
multiple business segments, partners and worldwide operations. By
selecting an integrated information system, Brown Shoe expects to
enhance its profitability and deliver increased shareholder value
through improved management and execution of its business operations,
financial systems, supply chain efficiency and planning, and employee
productivity. In addition, the integrated solution is intended to
further support Brown Shoe's overall objective to strengthen its
interconnected wholesale, sourcing, retail and e-commerce business
platforms.
Brown Shoe will replace existing homegrown and third-party applications
with the SAP Business Suite. The company will utilize SAP's
industry-specific solution, SAP(R) Apparel and Footwear Solution for
Consumer Products package, to help manage its supply chain. The company
also selected business intelligence solutions from Business Objects, an
SAP company, to help close the loop between business strategy and
execution. This application provides tightly integrated solutions that
are expected to collectively address the organization's business needs
and are intended to enable Brown Shoe to meet its long-term growth and
strategic expectations while remaining customer focused.
"We are excited to call Brown Shoe an SAP customer," said Greg Tomb,
President & CEO, SAP North America. "We are proud Brown Shoe selected
SAP to be a strategic partner to help take their business operations to
the next level. By leveraging business intelligence for real-time
decision making with an integrated business process platform, we will
help Brown Shoe succeed by closely aligning their business strategy and
execution."
About Brown Shoe
Brown Shoe is a $2.4 billion footwear company with global operations.
Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the 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, Carlos by Carlos Santana, and Hot Kiss as well
as Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear for children. Brown
Shoe press releases are available on the Company's website 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 and
expectations regarding Brown Shoe Company, Inc.'s future. Such
statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially. These include (i) the
preliminary nature of estimates of the costs and benefits of strategic
business transformation, which are subject to change as Brown Shoe makes
decisions and refines these estimates over time; (ii) potential
disruption to Brown Shoe's business and operations as it implements the
SAP ERP application as well as a result of the Company's decision to
relocate positions from its Madison, WI office to its St. Louis, MO
headquarters, and the Company's ability to attract and retain talent;
(iii) the timing and uncertainty of activities related to software
implementation and business transformation; and (iv) the new software
system's ability to enable Brown Shoe to successfully execute its growth
strategy. Brown Shoe's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission
contain detailed information relating to such factors, including,
without limitation, the information under the caption "Risk Factors" in
Item 1A of both Brown Shoe's Annual Report for the year ended February
2, 2008 and Brown Shoe's Quarterly Report for the quarterly period ended
May 3, 2008, which information is incorporated by reference herein. The
Company does not undertake any obligation or plan to update these
forward-looking statements, even though its situation may change.
Web site: http://www.brownshoe.com
