The Board of Directors of Brown Group, Inc. today declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable January 2, 1998 to shareholders of record on December 15, 1997.

ST. LOUIS, December 4, 1997 -- The Board of Directors of Brown Group, Inc. today declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable January 2, 1998 to shareholders of record on December 15, 1997. This payment is a reduction from the 25 cents per share that had been paid since the third quarter of 1995.

The dividend will be the 300th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company.

Brown Group, Inc. is a $1.5 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The Company operates the Famous Footwear, Naturalizer and F. X. LaSalle chains of footwear retail stores and markets leading brands including Naturalizer, Life Stride, NaturalSPORT, the Larry Stuart Collection, le coq sportif athletic footwear, and licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's, Star Wars and Disney character footwear.

Brown Group, Inc. press releases are available by fax through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call fax service at 800-758-5804, extension 109435. Brown Group, Inc. news also is available on the Company's web site at http://www.browngroup.com.

Brown Group, Inc.
8300 Maryland Avenue
Post Office Box 29
St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0029
(314) 854-4000

CONTACT: Mary Siverts, (314) 854-4093

media-inquiries@browngroup.com