NATIONAL SHOE RETAILERS ASSOCIATION GIVES HIGH HONORS TO THREE

National Shoe Retailers Association Gives High Honors to Three:

Tucson, AZ - November 11, 2011 - The National Shoe Retailers Association named Dansko its "Vendor of the Year” 2011 and Maurice Breton its 2011 Retailer of the Year during the Association's first annual leadership conference, held November 2-4 in New Orleans. NSRA also recognized Souls4Soles for its outstanding charitable work internationally.

The conference was a three-day educational and social event for more than 150 top retailers and vendors. They gathered to share information, listen to industry leaders and experts, and discuss business issues going forward in an economy that has changed significantly within the past five years. The awards were presented during the program's final evening, at a special Chairman's Awards Dinner for participants and their spouses.

"We are extremely honored by this recognition,” said Mark Diehl, Dansko senior vice president of sales. "Independent retailers have always been key Dansko partners, critical to our sales strategy,” he continued, adding, "Our stated mission is to be our stakeholders' favorite: not the only shoes on our retailers' shelves, but the company they most like to do business with. We are always extremely happy when we see this validated.”

In selecting Dansko, NSRA reflected the high esteem in which independent shoe stores hold the company. "Retailers enjoy being able to tell their customers what a manufacturer believes in, and how their products reflect those beliefs,” said NSRA president Chuck Schuyler. "Dansko makes it easy to tell the company's story. They honestly believe in giving back. They support a variety of charities, and they also support their employees. It's a story that resonates with the independent channel, where service is a fundamental part of the customer experience.”

The award was presented to Diehl by NSRA past chairman of the Board Ed Habre, owner of Shoe Mill, a seven-store chain headquartered in Portland, OR. Habre cited Dansko's environmental consciousness and the fact that the company has now twice been recognized as one of the Philadephia region's best places to work. He noted that Dansko was founded in 1990 by husband-and-wife team Peter Kjellerup and Mandy Cabot to provide "all-day-comfort footwear.”

Maurice Breton owns Comfort One Shoes, a 24-store chain with locations in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland. In presenting him with NSRA's Retailer of the Year Award, immediate past chairman Alan Miklofsky called Breton a "very determined retailer. Over the past 16 years, he has conquered and cornered Washington. He's a leader who carved a path that demands we all do more than we might think we are capable of. He has served the independent footwear community as an NSRA Board member, and a member of our Executive Committee and Finance Committee. He has lived change, opening, closing and moving stores. He is never a man to rest on his laurels. He challenges us all to work better and harder. In fact, Maurice Breton has set a bar we all aspire to – and he is truly NSRA's Retailer of the Year.”

In accepting the award, Breton acknowledged that he came out of corporate America to enter independent footwear retailing more than 18 years ago, and said he has learned a great deal from NSRA and from his fellow members. "I've given NSRA a lot, in terms of time as a Board member,” he said, "but NSRA has given me more. When you network with other retailers, you learn. And they teach you how to become the best. Thank you.”

The third award given by NSRA was accepted by Wayne Elsey, founder, chairman and CEO of Soles4Souls. It honored the 501(c)(3) charity, founded in 2004, for donating shoes to millions of people in need, beginning in the wake of a December tsunami that ravaged hundreds of thousands of lives. Elsey's idea was, as he recalls, simple: As those hundreds of thousands of people began to rebuild, footwear would protect their feet, enabling them to avoid disease and injury. So he began calling shoe manufacturers and figuring out how to get the footwear to another continent.

Since then, Soles4Souls has given more than 16 million pairs of shoes to those in need, and also created a entrepreneurial program through which poor people in little-developed countries can purchase gently-used shoes on credit, selling them at an affordable rate and learning business skills and principles that will allow them to support their families. Soles4Souls, which makes its headquarters in Nashville, now has 52 employees and has donated shoes to those in need in more than 128 countries.

In accepting the award, Elsey noted that NSRA and Soles4Souls had partnered two days earlier to fit new shoes to homeless men and women at New Orleans Mission, which serves hundreds of people weekly, helping them get back to safe, productive lives. It was NSRA's second time partnering with Soles4Souls to provide top-level customer service to people whose lives have taken a downward spin. Both times, said Schuyler, NSRA members have felt "grateful for the opportunity to get down on bended knee, fitting shoes to people that other people are sometimes afraid to look in the eye. The chance to see first-hand what a well-fit pair of shoes means to someone is a priceless reminder of the fact that our industry takes seriously the idea of supporting the communities we live in, with donations, personal time and commitment.”

The shoes for the New Orleans event, dubbed "NSRA Gives Back, with Sole4Souls,” were donated by P.W. Minor. Elsey reminded the NSRA audience that Soles4Souls welcomes help when it travels the globe to donate shoes. "I challenge you to go with us,” he invited, noting that already 18 shoe-donation and -fitting trips have been scheduled for 2012. Then he thanked NSRA and its members for the thousands of shoes they have collected and donated to help the world's neediest people.

The Soles4Souls Award was presented by former NSRA chairman Phil Wright, owner and chairman of the Board of Directors of Vernon Powell Shoes in Salisbury, MD. In his remarks, Wright cited Soles4Souls as an inspiration, noting that "Hurricane Katrina give it a true ongoing reality for most of us. Soles4Soles represents American outreach at its best. Thank you, Wayne – and please give our regards and deep thanks also to your staff.”

Incoming NSRA chairman of the Board Mark Denkler served as host of the Awards dinner, welcoming participants and reminding them that NSRA's leadership conference will be an annual event. Denkler and his wife LaRonda own Vince Canning Shoes in Delray Beach, Florida. In his welcoming remarks, Denkler noted that NSRA will celebrate its first 100 years in 2012. He also thanked the nine past chairmen of NSRA's Board of Directors who were in attendance, saying, "NSRA's network of people is the greatest strength of this Association. We learn from each other, and that's what builds continued business success.”

NSRA's 2012 annual conference will be held Nov. 14-16 in Washington, DC.

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