Brown Shoe Counters Rising Supply Chain Costs In New Efficiency-Focused West Coast Distribution Center

Fortna Inc. is designing Brown Shoe Company, Inc.'s new west coast distribution center from the ground up to meet very specific supply chain cost and efficiency goals. The new 350,000 square foot facility — at Tejon Ranch Industrial Complex, Kern County (Lebec), CA, just north of Los Angeles — will be a fulfillment and distribution center of Brown Shoe's Famous Footwear division. Famous Footwear is one of the largest chains that sells branded, value-priced footwear for the entire family. This latest project is a continuation of the successful supply chain partnership between Fortna and Brown Shoe, positioning them for store growth, maximized customer service and continued cost efficiencies.

Fortna's integrated design and delivery model is expected to positively impact Brown Shoe's bottom line and support future growth by increasing warehouse capacity and reducing cost-per-pair and order lead times. Perhaps most importantly with today's skyrocketing fuel prices, this new west coast location will significantly reduce Brown's overall freight costs while enhancing response time to stores and consumers.

"Fortna has been a true partner to Brown Shoe, and expanding our relationship with them to include the west coast distribution center will enable us to meet the needs of our customers more efficiently and effectively," said Robert Stadler, Senior Vice President, Logistics for Brown Shoe. "Fortna brought a team of experts to help with the integrated design and implementation efforts."

"Hundreds of tasks need to be coordinated to successfully bring a new facility to life," John White, Fortna EVP stated. "We are proud to see the value that the integrated Fortna/Brown Shoe team has provided across the many phases and work streams of this project. We have jointly balanced process, systems, people and asset decisions with a focus on positively impacting our client's bottom line and support of their future growth."

"We are excited about the efficiencies and flexibility that are built into the new facility, which will reduce operating costs as well as ensure the customers in our stores have the right shoes at the right time," added Jerry Essex, Vice President, Retail Logistics for Brown Shoe.

About Fortna

Fortna drives supply chain results.
We design, implement and support complete end-to-end solutions for our clients through supply chain consulting, material handling systems implementation and systems selection and implementation. Our "no-silos" business approach ensures alignment strategically, financially and operationally and brings our clients' supply chain strategy to life. Our integrated services and unmatched supply chain design tools have provided long term and trust-based relationships with clients in a wide range of industries including multi-channel retail, consumer products, electronics, parts distribution and third party logistics. www.fortna.com

About Brown Shoe
Brown Shoe is a $2.4B footwear company with global operations. Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the 1,100-store chain that sells brand name shoes for the family, approximately 300 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China under the Naturalizer, Brown Shoe Closet, FX LaSalle, and Franco Sarto names, and Shoes.com, the Company's ecommerce 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, Carlos by Carlos Santana and Hot Kiss, as well as Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's website at www.brownshoe.com.

SOURCE: Fortna Inc.