 In the 1970s, Brown operated Famous Footwear, Cloth World fabric stores, Bottom Half jeans stores, and Meis department stores.In February 1979, it was reported that Brown Group, then the largest American producer of namebrand footwear, was petitioning for price relief from the federal government.After closing its St. Louis warehouse in 1980, Brown began adjusting its business strategy to deal with pressure from cheap imports in the 1980s.