Brown Group Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (WIRE NEWS), December 3, 1998 -- The Board of Directors of Brown Group, Inc. (NYSE: BG) today declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable January 2, 1999 to shareholders of record on December 14, 1998.

This dividend will be the 304th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company.

Brown Group, Inc. is a $1.6 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, le coq sportif athletic footwear, Buster Brown, and licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's, Disney and Star Wars 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. information 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

For more information contact:

Mary Sylvia Siverts
Vice President - Public Affairs
(314) 854-4093

media-inquiries@browngroup.com