Brown Shoe Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI May 24, 2001 -- The Board of Directors of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) today declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable July 2, 2001 to shareholders of record on June 4, 2001.

This dividend will be the 314th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These include general economic conditions, competition, consumer apparel and footwear buying trends, and political and economic conditions in Brazil and China, which are significant footwear sourcing countries. Brown Shoe Company, Inc. reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Annual Report on Form 10-K contain detailed information relating to such factors.

Brown Shoe is a $1.7 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the Famous Footwear and Naturalizer chains of footwear retail stores and markets leading brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Buster Brown, and licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's, Barbie, and other kids' character footwear. Brown Shoe press releases are available by fax through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call fax service at 800-758-5804, extension 109435. Brown Shoe information also is available on the Company's web site at http://www.brownshoe.com.