Brown Shoe's Sales Slip

Brown Shoe Co. (St. Louis) announced a 37 percent decline insecond-quarter profits. The owner of the Famous Footwear and NaturalizerRetail shoe-store chains said net income was down to $5.8 millioncompared to $9.2 million a year earlier. However, Brown Shoes insiststhe decline was in-line with previously announced expectations.

According to the company, the retail business was hurt most by risingpromotional pressures. Famous Footwear suffered the biggest setback witha quarterly operating loss of $262,000, compared with operating profitsof $13.5 million last year.