Caleres Shares Support for LGBTQIA+ Associates and Customers

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Caleres (NYSE: CAL) today announced what the company and its brands are doing to support LGBTQIA+ associates and customers all year, including support specific to Pride month in June.

“As we approach an opportunity to honor, recognize, appreciate, and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in June, we want to clearly state that we do this all year at Caleres,” said Amy Hunter, vice president of DE&I for Caleres. “June is the month that the U.S. comes together and officially supports a community of people that historically have been and still are marginalized. There are a number of ways we support our Associates and customers and we fully acknowledge there is more work to do and that we are on this journey together. ”

Caleres started this year celebrating a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQIA workplace equality.

Support from Caleres and its family of brands is comprehensive:

• A $50,000 corporate commitment to The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) people.

• St. Louis associates will host a booth at the St. Louis Pridefest and march in the parade.
• A round-up at online checkout will take place in June across the Caleres portfolio of brands including Famous Footwear, Naturalizer, Sam Edelman, Franco Sarto, Rykä, LifeStride, Bzees and Zodiac.
• Famous Footwear will feature associate stories across its website, social media, and email, sharing what Pride month means to them and how they celebrate.
• In addition to supporting the Trevor Project, Famous Footwear will build on its national partnership with the Ticket to Dream Foundation during Pride month. All proceeds from in-store round up will fund the unique and unmet needs of LBGTQ+ foster youth.
• Sam Edelman stores will give customers an exclusive Sam Edelman Love tote with purchase while supplies last.
• Franco Sarto will donate 20% of sales of their Homer and Capri styles in rainbow patterns and Naturalizer will donate 20% of online sales of the Flores sandal during June to the Trevor Project.

Caleres support of its LGBTQIA+ associates includes the following:

• Support of the medical needs of associates in transition through health insurance coverage, including steps to help associates navigate the process of transitioning in relation to working at Caleres and enhancement of materials for managers of transitioning associates to help them better understand the process and how they can support the associate and educate colleagues
• Changes in its benefits policy to be more inclusive of family structures
• The ability to identify across gendered identities in HR systems
• Encouragement to add pronouns to email signature lines, e-cards, and business cards
• The acknowledgement of the LGBTQIA+ community in all diversity trainings, reflecting the importance of intersectionality at Caleres

About Caleres

Caleres is a diverse portfolio of global footwear brands. Our products are available virtually everywhere - in the nearly 1,000 retail stores we operate, in hundreds of major department and specialty stores, on our branded e-commerce sites, and on many additional third-party retail websites. Famous Footwear offers great casual and athletic brands for the entire family with convenient, curated, affordable collections. Sam Edelman keeps expressive women in step with the latest trends in a playful, whimsical way. Naturalizer shoes are beautiful from the inside out, with elegant simplicity and legendary fit re-imagined for today’s consumer. Allen Edmonds combines old world craft with new world technology to create luxe footwear for the discerning man who wants sophisticated, modern classics. Rounding out our family of brands are Vionic, Vince, Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl’s Shoes, LifeStride, Blowfish Malibu, Bzees, Circus by Sam Edelman and Ryka. Combined, these brands make Caleres a company with both a legacy and a mission. Our legacy is our more than 140 years of craftsmanship and our passion for fit, while our mission is to continue to inspire people to feel great… feet first. Visit caleres.com to learn more about us.

About Trevor Project:

The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning) young people. The organization works to save young lives by providing support through free and confidential suicide prevention and crisis intervention programs on platforms where young people spend their time: our 24/7 phone lifeline, chat, and text. We also run TrevorSpace, the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, and operate innovative education, research, and advocacy programs.

About Ticket to Dream:

Ticket to Dream Foundation is dedicated to providing hope and opportunity for foster children across the nation, so they can focus on being kids. They believe it starts with joining forces with businesses and local communities to ensure foster youth of all ages have the school supplies, holiday gifts, properly fitting clothing and shoes that all children need to thrive. Ticket to Dream partners with over 200 non-profit foster care agencies, reaching 175,000 children across the country, to help foster youth quickly and efficiently in communities.