Sep. 21, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

TOPEKA, Kan. and LEXINGTON, Mass., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) today announced that The Stride Rite Corporation will now be doing business as Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group -- a move to better reflect and communicate the broad range of premium and iconic performance and lifestyle brands in the company, as well as its new, strengthened business model.

"We believe this new name elevates the strength and diversity of our brand portfolio, while also representing our role in Collective Brands," said Gregg Ribatt, CEO of Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group. "The new name best describes what brings us together -- a collection of fiercely independent performance and lifestyle brands with unique personalities and strong marketplace positions, each focused on distinct and targeted customer groups. As well, as a result of being part of Collective Brands, we have a renewed and strengthened business model leveraging powerful infrastructure designed to platform our brands and businesses for maximum success in the global marketplace."

Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group includes Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and the Stride Rite Children's Group with its brands Stride Rite, Robeez, Keds Kids, Saucony Kids and Sperry Top-Sider Kids, among others, which are sold through Stride Rite retail stores and wholesale partners. There is no change to the time-honored Stride Rite children's footwear brand or the Stride Rite Children's Group as part of this move. Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group continues to be headquartered in Lexington, Mass., a suburb of Boston.

The new and strengthened business model of Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group has been evolving over the past few years, resulting from the 2007 acquisition of The Stride Rite Corporation and formation of Collective Brands, Inc., which supports all its businesses through Centers of Excellence teams -- shared infrastructure in such key functional areas as Global Sourcing and Supply Chain, Finance, Strategy, Store Development, Information Technology, Legal and Human Resources. The Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group leverages this strategic support from its parent company to ensure each brand's leadership position and to seize international growth opportunities, a key strategic initiative.

"The Collective Brands business model enables our brands to operate adroitly and autonomously against their own strategic plans toward specific consumer segments and markets.