Famous Footwear is a nationwide chain of retail stores in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which offers a variety of
footwearFootwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for protection against the environment, and adornment. Socks and other hosiery are usually worn between the feet and the footwear, less often with sandals and flip flops...
from brands like:
NikeNike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
,
SkechersSkechers is an American shoe company, headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, founded by LA Gear shoe company founder Robert Greenberg. After being ousted from the LA Gear board, Greenberg started Skechers in 1992 with his son as a distributor for Doc Martens. They launched their own shoe...
, Aerosoles,
Steve MaddenSteve Madden is the founder and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd., a footwear company. His designs predominantly cater to young women.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York....
,
New BalanceNew Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...
, Converse,
PumaPUMA AG Rudolf Dassler Sport is a large German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear....
,
roxyQuiksilver, Inc. , based in Huntington Beach, California, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of surfwear and other boardsport-related equipment...
, and many other brands.
Famous Footwear is owned by
Brown Shoe CompanyBrown Shoe Company is a footwear company that owns a variety of popular footwear brands in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a close suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.- Origins :...
.
Famous Footwear has expanded throughout the years it has been open.
Famous Footwear has a rich history with company beginnings over 40 years ago in Madison, WI.
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Famous Footwear is a nationwide chain of retail stores in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which offers a variety of
footwearFootwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for protection against the environment, and adornment. Socks and other hosiery are usually worn between the feet and the footwear, less often with sandals and flip flops...
from brands like:
NikeNike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
,
SkechersSkechers is an American shoe company, headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, founded by LA Gear shoe company founder Robert Greenberg. After being ousted from the LA Gear board, Greenberg started Skechers in 1992 with his son as a distributor for Doc Martens. They launched their own shoe...
, Aerosoles,
Steve MaddenSteve Madden is the founder and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd., a footwear company. His designs predominantly cater to young women.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York....
,
New BalanceNew Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...
, Converse,
PumaPUMA AG Rudolf Dassler Sport is a large German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear....
,
roxyQuiksilver, Inc. , based in Huntington Beach, California, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of surfwear and other boardsport-related equipment...
, and many other brands.
Famous Footwear is owned by
Brown Shoe CompanyBrown Shoe Company is a footwear company that owns a variety of popular footwear brands in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a close suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.- Origins :...
.
Famous Footwear has expanded throughout the years it has been open.
Famous Footwear has a rich history with company beginnings over 40 years ago in Madison, WI. Since that time Famous Footwear has grown to over 925 stores of brand name shoes for less and climbing.
- 1960 - With a $10,000 loan, 29-year-old Neil Moldenhauer opens "Neil's Factory Outlet Shoes" in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
. Neil's concept, "Brand name shoes for less," is decades ahead of its time.
- 1964 - Stock boy Brian Cook
Brian Joshua Cook is an American professional basketball player. He plays power forward for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. Cook was drafted out of the University of Illinois with the 24th pick of the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers...
is made Neil's Madison store manager. Moldenhauer expands the business to IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of...
, opening one store in Cedar Rapids. It is the first store to be called Famous Footwear.
- 1969 - Neil's is now an eight-store chain. Its annual revenues have grown to $950,000 from $300,000 over the previous four years.
- 1974 - Cook, long-time employee Dave Orfan and a group of outside investors purchase 90 percent of the chain, now 15 stores strong, in a leveraged buyout. Orfan is made president of the chain and Cook is executive vice president. All stores are now called Famous Footwear, a change gradually instituted since 1965.
- 1980 - The company now has 36 Famous Footwear stores in nine states with sales of $30 million. Famous Footwear is acquired by St. Louis-based Brown Group, Inc., part of the original Brown Shoe Company
Brown Shoe Company is a footwear company that owns a variety of popular footwear brands in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a close suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.- Origins :...
, one of the leading shoe manufacturers in the U.S. and makers of such well-known brands as Naturalizer and Buster BrownBuster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault which was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York...
. Under the terms of the acquisition, Famous Footwear maintains its headquarters in Madison WI. Brown Group in St. Louis opens a Southern division of Famous Footwear, which eventually grows to 80 stores.
- 1986 - Famous Footwear now has 135 stores managed by the Madison office. They merge operations with the Southern division managed in St. Louis, and end the year with 230 Famous Footwear stores.
- 1990 - The company adds 47 new stores and absorbs three discount footwear chains operated by Wohl Shoe Company, a division of Brown Group. To keep pace with such rapid growth, the company opens a distribution center in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located east of Madison it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city's population was 20,369...
. The center, equipped with state-of-the-art inventory processing systems, doubles Famous Footwear's distribution capacity. Famous Footwear has 304 stores at year-end.
- 1991 - Famous Footwear adds 66 new units and ends the year with 353 Famous Footwear stores in 39 states and $268 million in sales.
- 1992 - Famous Footwear has a banner year, opening 105 new stores and acquiring 63 additional stores from Wohl Shoe Company. With 477 stores by year's end, Famous Footwear is the nation's largest chain of shoe stores selling branded footwear for the entire family.
- 1993 - The company closes the year with 722 stores in 44 states. To increase its distribution capacity, Famous Footwear breaks ground for a distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, east of Nashville. Local residents have also called it "Cedar-City"...
.
- 1995 - The Famous Footwear chain now consists of 814 stores in 44 states employing 8,500 people. The company establishes a significant presence in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
with the opening of 58 stores in the greater LA area. The Lebanon Distribution Center is completed and begins serving stores in the south and west.
- 1999 - Famous Footwear finishes the year with 867 stores in 49 states and Guam
Guam is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. The island's capital is Hagåtña...
. The company begins a major penetration of the BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
market and opens two stores in AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
- 2000 - The company acquires Mil-Mar Shoe Co., Inc., a privately owned footwear chain based in Milwaukee, WI. The former 27 Mil-Mar stores are in Milwaukee, Illinois
Illinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
and IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of...
and do business under the Warehouse Shoes and All About Shoes names.
- 2001 - Famous Footwear reaches the $1 billion sales mark for the first time in mid-January. Cook announces his retirement as President on August 23, 2001.
- 2002 - Joseph W. Wood is selected as President of Famous Footwear. The company now has 924 stores in the United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Guam and Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
and continues to provide "brand name shoes for less."
- 2008 On April 10, 2008, Brown Shoe announced that they were moving famous footwear corporate headquarters from Madison Wisconsin to St. Louis Missouri.