Exclusive: Nordstrom Vet Brian Costello Is Famous Footwear’s New Chief Merchandising Officer
Caleres is adding another major footwear name to its executive roster.
The St. Louis-based company revealed to FN exclusively that Brian Costello has joined Famous Footwear as chief merchandising officer. He will oversee all buying and merchandising, including women’s, men’s and kids’ athletic and fashion footwear and accessories, for the brand’s U.S. and Canada stores and e-commerce sites.
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“Brian has a long track record of exceptional fashion and footwear industry leadership,” said Mike Edwards, president of Famous Footwear, in a statement. “With expertise in merchandising and planning for both footwear and ready-to-wear, I’m confident he will help drive growth and achieve our ambitions at Famous Footwear.”
Costello has spent nearly 30 years in the department store sector during stints at Nordstrom and Macy’s.
At Nordstrom Rack — where he was most recently vice president and divisional merchandise manager — the executive led all footwear categories, women’s accessories and a variety of ready-to-wear segments. During his time at the Seattle-based retailer, Costello also spearheaded a large segment of the women’s shoe business at Nordstrom and was a key player in the launch of Nordstromrack.com.
“I’m proud to be joining Caleres and Famous Footwear,” said Costello. “As a retailer, many of our best wholesale partners were at Caleres. As a competitor, I always watched and shopped Famous Footwear. I’m honored to be leading such a strong merchant organization.”
Costello’s appointment reflects an ongoing strategy by Caleres President and CEO Jay Schmidt to add executive talent in key areas at both Famous and across the broader Caleres portfolio.
In 2024, Andrew Leckie joined Famous Footwear as senior vice president and general merchandise manager. On the brand side, Nancy Bitetto assumed the newly created role of senior vice president of Caleres’ New York brands last fall.
Those moves followed the appointments of Liz Dunn as senior vice president of corporate development and strategic communications and Erica Mackoul as senior vice president of international.
The focus on cultivating talent extends beyond the executive suite. Caleres also made several key board moves, appointing Molly Langenstein, former CEO & president of Chico’s FAS and Kyle Gendreau, CEO and executive director of Samsonite International S.A.
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