Brown Shoe Company, Inc. said it plans to join together employees from its Famous Footwear division headquartered in Madison, WI with its St. Louis-based divisions to create a more connected footwear company.

 

The company will be headquartered in St. Louis.


Brown Shoe expects the relocation of employees from Madison to St. Louis to begin during the second quarter and be substantially complete by the end of the third quarter of 2008. 

 

The company expects to incur pre-tax expenses of $25 to $30 million (37 cents to 44 cents per diluted share) to implement the transition. These expenses include people-related costs for relocation, severance and retention, as well as asset write-off and lease termination costs.
The company growth plan anticipates relocating or creating 500-700 new jobs in the community over the next several years.