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Famous Footwear history
Famous Footwear company history timeline
Today's Famous Footwear began in 1960 with the establishment of a single shoe store, Neil's Factory Shoe Outlet (launched as "Neil's Shoes"), in Madison, Wisconsin.
The name "Famous Footwear" was launched in 1964 when Moldenhauer opened a second store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
By 1974, all stores in the chain—which now consisted of 15 storefronts—were unified under the Famous Footwear banner.
Prior to 1974, due to its discounting policy Famous Footwear was unable to purchase footwear from the two leading athletic shoe giants of the day, Adidas and Puma.
Orfan initially assumed the role of President with Cook Executive Vice President, a relationship which changed in 1979 when Cook assumed the mantle of the presidency.
By 1980, the midwestern chain consisted of 36 stores generating total annual sales of $30 million.
By 1986 the chain consisted of 230 stores.
In 1990, Famous Footwear launched a 740,000-square-foot (69,000 m) distribution center in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, near Madison.
The company indicates that it has plans to close 126 underperforming stores by the end of 2012, approximately matched by planned openings of additional new locations.
In that year about 18 percent of the chain's business involved the brands of Famous' parent corporation, Brown Shoe Company (as of May 2015, named Caleres), which include Naturalizer, Doctor Scholl's, Franco Sarto, Sam Edelman, and the chain's private label, Connie.
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Famous Footwear competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hibbett Sports | 1945 | $1.7B | 4,350 | 833 |
| maurices | 1931 | $1.0B | 25 | 1,937 |
| Claire's | 2007 | $1.4B | 18,100 | 638 |
| Abercrombie & Fitch Co | 1892 | $4.9B | 44,000 | 2,302 |
| Payless ShoeSource | 1956 | $3.0B | 18,000 | - |
| RadioShack | 1921 | $3.4B | 5,825 | - |
| MC Sports | 1946 | $300.0M | 1,300 | - |
| Build-A-Bear Workshop | 1997 | $338.5M | 5,643 | 418 |
| PacSun | 1982 | $797.8M | 10,300 | 1,015 |
| Wilsons Leather | 1899 | $310.0M | 2,998 | 26 |
Famous Footwear history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Famous Footwear, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Famous Footwear. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Famous Footwear. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Famous Footwear. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Famous Footwear and its employees or that of Zippia.
Famous Footwear may also be known as or be related to Famous Footwear.