ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS)(brownshoe.com)
today announced the company’s board of directors has appointed Diane
Sullivan chairman of the board, effective February 2, 2014. Sullivan
will add chairmanship duties to her existing roles as president and
chief executive officer, when Ron Fromm steps down from his chairman
role. Fromm will remain a member of Brown Shoe Company’s board of
directors.
Since she took on the role of president and chief executive officer in
May 2011, Sullivan has been focused on aligning the company’s brands and
businesses with both its mission and strategic financial goals. Over the
past two years, Brown Shoe Company has made great strides in its
portfolio realignment efforts at the infrastructure, retail and brand
levels, which has led to a significant improvement in shareholder value.
Sullivan joined Brown Shoe Company in 2004 as president and assumed the
additional role of chief operating officer in 2006. She was elected to
Brown Shoe Company’s board of directors in 2007. Prior to Brown Shoe
Company, she worked at The Stride Rite Corporation, where she served as
president and chief operating officer of the corporation and as a member
of the board of directors. From there, Sullivan went to Phillips-Van
Heusen as vice chairman of Footwear before joining Brown Shoe Company.
In addition to serving on several footwear industry boards, Sullivan is
currently on the boards of BJC HealthCare and Enterprise Holdings and
will become a member of the board of trustees at Washington University
on July 1.
About Brown Shoe Company
Brown Shoe Company is a $2.6 billion, global footwear company whose
shoes are worn by people of all ages, from all walks of life. Our
products are available virtually everywhere — in the nearly 1,300 Famous
Footwear and Naturalizer retail stores we operate, in hundreds of major
department and specialty stores, on 14 branded ecommerce sites, and on
many additional third-party retail websites. Through our broad range of
products, we serve three key market segments. Our Family brands — Famous
Footwear, Famous.com, and shoes.com — are one-stop-shopping destinations
for high quality, affordable styles for a family’s every occasion.
Active people who want comfort, style and performance can look to our
Healthy Living brands — Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's Shoes, LifeStride and
Ryka. Our Contemporary Fashion brands — Via Spiga, Vince, Sam Edelman,
Franco Sarto, Carlos Santana and Fergie Footwear — keep fashionistas in
step with the latest trends. At Brown Shoe Company, we inspire people to
feel good and live better... feet first!
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