Brown Shoe posts $7.6 million first quarter loss
Written on May 28, 2009
Brown Shoe Co. reported first-quarter results illustrating the roughness of the economy. Sales dropped 2.8 percent to $538.7 million. The Clayton-based parent company of Famous Footwear, Naturalizer, and Dr. Scholl’s posted a loss of $7.6 million or 18 cents per share, compared to $7.2 million (17 cents per share) in the same period a year ago.
"The consumer spending environment remained challenging" in the first quarter, Ron Fromm, Brown Shoe’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Fromm said the company focused on managing expenses while reducing inventory and debt low fee payday loans. The company generated cash and lowered its net borrowings by more than $30 million.
The company said it would keep its number of stores steady, at best, and might actually reduce its stores by 15 this year. Additionally, it plans to cut its store roster by about 30 stores in 2010, and again in 2011.
Filed in: marketing.