Brown Shoe Company

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Buster Brown and his dog Tige have been mascots for Brown Shoe, Co., since 1904.

Brown Shoe Company NYSE: BWS is a footwear company that owns a variety of popular footwear brands in the United States and Canada.

Brown Shoe Company, Inc. is a $1.84 billion footwear company with worldwide operations recognized as The Leader in Footwear. The company operates the 900-store Famous Footwear chain. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada. Brown Shoe's wholesale divisions own and market leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie, Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Spider-Man and Bob-the-Builder character footwear for children.

Since 1904, its mascots have been cartoon characters Buster Brown and his dog Tige. They both appear on the company's television commercials. In the 1940s and 50s the company made a brief foray into the comic book publishing industry, producing comics Buster Brown Comics, which featured the character on the cover, but contained different adventure features, such as Robin Hood.

The company was created in St. Louis and was originally named Bryan, Brown & Company after its founders George Warren Brown and Alvin Bryan. The name was changed to Brown Shoe Company in 1893. The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis was endowed in 1925 by G.W. Brown's widow.

[edit] Brown Shoe Company brands and business divisions

Buster Brown & Company - Children's shoes
Dr. Scholl's - Foot care products, includes Dr. Scholl's Originals women's shoes.
Famous Footwear - Nationwide chain of retail stores.
Naturalizer - Women's shoe brand.
Shoes.com - Online shoe retailer.