 Opening a plant in Dyer, Tennessee in 1941, Brown began moving south for production, where it was traditionally non-Union.In the 1940s, Brown's third president Clark Gamble began pushing the company into retailing.Becoming president in 1948 after John Bush, Gamble in 1950 initiated a merger with Wohl Shoes, which wholesaled mostly women's shoes in 2,500 stores in North America and Cuba.