Brown Shoe Co. is an American footwear company that owns and operates a variety of footwear brands. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. The company was founded in 1878 as Bryan, Brown & Company in St. Louis, though it underwent several name changes. The Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company was the largest manufacturer of shoes in America in the early 20th century, but it went bankrupt in 1939. In its present form, Brown was incorporated in the State of New York in 1913, and since that time has been engaged in the manufacture of men's, women's and children's shoes. In 1929 Brown started retail business, but by 1945 had disposed of them and until 1951 engaged principally in manufacturing and distributing its shoes to independent retailers, chains and by mail orders. The company also expanded its franchise operations since 1950. Brown engages in extensive national advertising for its brand name shoes: Buster Brown and Robin Hood for children's shoes; Naturalizer, Air Step and Life Stride for women's shoes; Pedwin and Roblee for men's ones. Brown also manufactures shoes for independent retailers under their private labels. From 1913 Brown's manufacturing expanded through acquisition of additional plant facilities: Barton Bros. of Kansas City, Missouri, in the first year, Ermtree Shoe Company and its affiliate Footkind Shoe Company in 1946. In 1948 it acquired the assets of the Milius Shoe Co., consisting of a factory at Piggott, Arkansas, and a leased plant at Festus, Missouri; in 1950 – Spalsbury-Steis Shoe Company, which operated a manufacturing plant at Fredericktown, Missouri; in 1952 – the capital stock of the Bourbeuse Shoe Company, which operated a factory at Union, Missouri; in 1953 – the stock of Monogram Footwear, Inc., which operated a factory at Trenton, Illinois, the stock of the O'Donnell Shoe. Brown Shoe Co. changed its name to Caleres in 2015, and current brands include Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Allen Edmonds, Naturalizer, and Vionic.