Shoes.com Celebrates Fifth Anniversary, Designation as BizRate.com “Circle of Excellence” Site

Shoes.com is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a prestigious honor from BizRate, major new enhancements to its flagship website, and the launch of two new websites targeting specific consumer segments.

Los Angeles (PRWEB) October 20, 2006 -- Shoes.com, the e-commerce division of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS, www.brownshoe.com), is celebrating its fifth anniversary as a three-time winner of the BizRate.com “Circle of Excellence” award.

BizRate.com, a comparison shopping web site, solicits annual consumer feedback on e-commerce sites in categories such as Finding What You Are Looking For, On-Time Delivery, Selection of Products, Customer Support and Overall Satisfaction, and designates the high scorers as “Circle of Excellence” winners. This year, BizRate.com announced 58 winners, and Shoes.com is one of fewer than 30 sites to receive the honor for three consecutive years.

“Receiving the BizRate.com ‘Circle of Excellence’ designation for the third straight year is important to us, but even more important for our consumers,” said Shoes.com President Steve Adler. “We continually seek ways to enhance the customer experience, through footwear selection as well as the site’s ease of use, and earning the BizRate.com honor lets us know we are doing just that. Going forward, our focus is on making Shoes.com even better for shoppers.”
   
Shoes.com is implementing multiple site improvements that will make shoe shopping easier and more enjoyable. The new customer reviews section, for example, enables shoppers to read personal experiences of other consumers about shoe styles they’ve purchased. With the recently added alternative payment service, shoppers have more options when they are ready to check out. More new features are scheduled to be operational in the next several months.

Additionally Shoes.com has launched an athletic shoe site, www.BlueFireSports.com, and is currently developing a complete lifestyle site, slated to debut later this year.
Launched in 2001, Shoes.com offers more than 500,000 pairs of women’s shoes, men’s shoes and kids’ shoes from more than 400 well-known and loved brands.

Brown Shoe is a $2.3 billion footwear company with global operations. The Company operates the 950+ store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for the family. It also operates 300+ specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada under the Naturalizer, FX LaSalle, Via Spiga and Franco Sarto names, and Shoes.com, the Company’s e-commerce subsidiary. Brown Shoe, through its wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Via Spiga, Nickels Soft, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl’s, Etienne Aigner, Bass and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company’s web site at http://www.brownshoe.com.

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