Brown Shoe Co cut its third-quarter outlook due to disappointing sales at its Famous Footwear unit. Third-quarter earnings are now expected to range between 17 cents to 20 cents a share, including costs of 22 cents a share tied to moving its Madison, Wisconsin office to St. Louis. Earlier forecasts called for earnings between 31 cents to 41 cents a share on a similar basis.


 


In the 2007 third quarter, Brown earned 61 cents a share, which included costs of 6 cents a share related to the company’s earnings enhancement plan.


 


The company, which also owns the Naturalizer, LifeStride and Via Spiga brands, currently expects its third quarter 2008 net sales to be in the range of $633 to $638 million, as compared to $646 million in the year-ago period. This is predicated on an estimated same-store sales decrease of 4.5% to 5.5% in the third quarter at its Famous Footwear division. In addition, the company expects third quarter sales in its Wholesale division to decrease 4.0 to 5.0%.


 


Brown will update full-year guidance when it releases earnings for the third quarter on November 25, 2008.