Brown Shoe Company, Inc. announced that October sales at Famous Footwear rose 5.7% to $74.3 million for the four-week period ended October 30, 2004 compared to $70.2 million for the same period last year. Same-store sales increased 2.3%.
Third quarter sales for Famous Footwear were $311,700,000, a 3.3 percent increase compared to $301,600,000 for the 13-week period last year, with same- store sales down 0.4%. Year-to-date sales for Famous Footwear were $853,600,000 compared to $831,600,000; a 0.2% decrease on a same-store basis.
Sales at Brown Shoe's Naturalizer retail division, the 381-store chain selling the Naturalizer brand of women's footwear in the U.S. and Canada, were $18,600,000 in October, compared to $16,800,000 last October. Same-store sales were up 6.8 percent.
Naturalizer's third quarter sales for the 13 weeks ended October 30, 2004 were $49,900,000 compared to $49,800,000 for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the quarter decreased 2.8%. For the first 39 weeks of fiscal 2004, Naturalizer stores' sales were $143,500,000 versus $142,300,000 for the same period last year; same- store sales decreased 1.6%.
“We were pleased to achieve same-store sales gains at Famous Footwear and Naturalizer during October,” said Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm. “At Famous Footwear, sales of athletics for men, women and children, were up mid- single digits on a same-store basis, as was children's footwear. Strong sales of men's and women's dress shoes, were offset by continued lackluster performance of casual footwear.
