Brian Costello joins Famous Footwear as chief merchandising officer

Footwear retailer Caleres has appointed Brian Costello as chief merchandising officer of Famous Footwear.

In this role, the company said in a release, he will oversee all buying and merchandising, including women’s, men’s and kids’ athletic and fashion footwear and accessories, for the brand’s US and Canada stores and e-commerce sites.

“Brian has a long track record of exceptional fashion and footwear industry leadership,” said Mike Edwards, president of Famous Footwear.

“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.”

The company added that Costello brings nearly 30 years of diverse fashion experience at Nordstrom and Macy’s, including leading all footwear categories, women’s accessories and a variety of ready-to-wear categories at Nordstrom Rack, a large segment of the women’s shoe business at Nordstrom, and planning and site merchandising for the launch of nordstromrack.com.

“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,” added Costello.

Caleres is a portfolio of global footwear brands that includes Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Allen Edmonds, Naturalizer and Vionic, among others.