Famous Footwear 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

Table of Contents
BROWN SHOE COMPANY, INC. 2003 FORM 10-K
Naturalizer
The Naturalizer retail stores are showcases for our flagship brand of women’s shoes. These stores are designed and merchandised to appeal
to the Naturalizer customer, who is style- and comfort-conscious and who seeks quality and value in her footwear selections. In addition, the
Company has repositioned its styles to focus on a younger, more active woman. The Naturalizer stores offer a selection of women’s footwear
styles, including dress, casual, boots and sandals, primarily under the Naturalizer brand. The Naturalizer brand is one of North America’s
leading women’s footwear brands, based on its market share in department stores as reported by the NPD Group/ NPD Fashionworld Point-
of-Sale (hereafter “NPD Group, Inc.”), providing stylish, comfortable and quality footwear in a variety of patterns and sizes. Retail price points
are typically between $50 and $60 per pair.
We operate 208 Naturalizer stores in the United States and 154 stores in Canada. Of the total 362 stores, 293 are located almost entirely in
regional malls, with a few stores having street locations, and average approximately 1,200 square feet in size. Sixty-nine are located in outlet
malls and average approximately 2,600 square feet in size. Total square footage at the end of fiscal 2003 was 531,000 compared to 548,000
in fiscal 2002. Sales per square foot, using constant exchange rates for the Canadian dollar, were $301 in both fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2002.
In fiscal 2003, we opened 4 Naturalizer stores and closed 15. In fiscal 2002, we closed a total of 89 Naturalizer stores while opening 22. Most
of these closings occurred under an initiative announced in late fiscal 2001 to close underperforming stores. We are planning to open
approximately 16 new Naturalizer stores and close approximately 16 stores in 2004.
Marketing programs for the Naturalizer stores have complemented our Naturalizer brand advertising, building on the brand’s consumer
recognition and reinforcing the brand’s added focus on style, comfort and quality. Naturalizer utilizes a database marketing program, which
targets frequent customers primarily through catalogs, which are mailed four times per year and which display the brand’s current product.
Customers can purchase the product in these catalogs from the Company’s stores, via the Internet at www.Naturalizer.com, or by telephone
to our Consumer Services call center.
F.X. LaSalle
We operate 16 F.X. LaSalle retail stores, primarily in the Montreal, Canada market, that sell better-grade men’s and women’s branded and
private-label footwear. This footwear, primarily imported from Italy, retails at price points ranging from $100 to $250 per pair. These stores
average approximately 2,100 square feet. Sales per square foot were $314 in fiscal 2003 and $345 in fiscal 2002, using constant exchange
rates for the Canadian dollar.
E-Commerce
We own a majority interest in Shoes.com, Inc., a multi-brand Internet e-tailing company. In addition, a FamousFootwear.com site operates as
a Famous Footwear e-tailing store. These sites offer footwear and accessories to men, women and children that include Company branded
and licensed footwear as well as footwear purchased from outside suppliers and certain merchandise that is sold in Famous Footwear stores.
We also operate Naturalizer.com, which offers substantially the same product selection to consumers as our domestic Naturalizer retail
stores. This site functions as a retail outlet for the online consumer and serves as another brand-building vehicle for Naturalizer.
All of these e-commerce sites utilize our distribution network and information systems. Information on these Web sites does not constitute
part of this report.
5