Stride Rite Names Tom Morgan to Newly Created Senior Vice President of Global Sales Position of Keds Group

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Stride Rite Corporation, a unit of Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS), announced today that Tom Morgan will join the company in the newly created position of senior vice president of global sales, Keds Group & general manager, PRO-Keds. Morgan will assume his role in early October, overseeing global sales for the Keds®, Grasshoppers® and PRO-Keds® brands.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of Tom Morgan to the Keds division as senior vice president of global sales,” said Gregg Ribatt, president and chief executive officer of The Stride Rite Corporation, a unit of Collective Brands, Inc. “Tom brings with him over 20 years of industry experience and will play an integral role in our ongoing efforts to align the organization around our strategic initiatives and growth opportunities. He will be a great asset to the future success of the Keds brands and Stride Rite as a whole.”

Prior to joining Stride Rite, Morgan most recently was at Puma North America, where as senior vice president of sales and merchandising, he was responsible for the brand’s North American sales operations and distribution strategy. During his ten-year career at Puma, he was instrumental in growing the brand’s wholesale business in North America. Additionally, he was a leader in the launch of Puma into the department store and sporting goods channels, as well as broadening the reach of the brand into apparel and accessories. Prior to joining Puma, he served various sales roles at Reebok International including vice president and general manager, Reebok Field Sports and regional vice president, Reebok Northeast. He also held sales management positions at Converse.

About Keds

Since 1916 Keds has represented authenticity, quality and style. Keds offers a myriad of styles from the classic Champion sneaker to vintage-inspired, distressed slip-ons, ballet flats, pointy toe skimmers, mules and lace-up active mary-janes, sneakers, wedges. The Keds Corporation, is a subsidiary of The Stride Rite Corporation, a unit of Collective Brands. Stride Rite focuses on lifestyle and athletic branded footwear for men and women, and high-quality children’s footwear.

Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS), headquartered in Topeka, Kan., is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, also headquartered in Topeka, focused on democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its more than 4,500-store retail chain, with its brands American Eagle™, Airwalk®, Dexter®, Champion® and designer collections Abaeté for Payless™, Lela Rose for Payless™ and alice + olivia for Payless™, Patricia Field for Payless™, among others; Stride Rite, based in Lexington, Mass., focused on lifestyle and athletic branded footwear and high-quality children’s footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite®, Keds®, Sperry Top-Sider®, Robeez®, and Saucony®, among others; and Collective Licensing International, Englewood, Colo., the brand development, management and global licensing unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Vision Street Wear®, Lamar®, Sims®, LTD®, genetic®, Dukes™, Rage®, Ultra-Wheels®, and Skate Attack®. Information about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brand’s units can be found at http://www.collectivebrands.com.

Keds Corporation
Debra Fernandes, 617-824-6471
debra_fernandes@striderite.com