Brown Shoe Company, a major footwear retailer based in St. Louis, MO., will announce layoffs and store store closings, according to a report by KPLR TV in St. Louis. The report indicates that the company will implement “worker seperation” over the next two weeks to be followed by involuntary layoffs.


Per the article, the retailer plans to close 30-35 of it 1,000 Famous Footwear stores while laying off 59 people from its 100 person workforce at its Fredrickstown distribution center. According to KPLR, Brown Shoe spokesman Erin Conroy said “We are doing this in a proactive way. This is in response to economic challenges facing all retailers and all footwear companies.”