Management Team Details How It Is Accelerating Profitable Growth by Successfully Leveraging the Company's Complementary Business Units, Hybrid Business Model and Strong Brand Portfolio

TOPEKA, KS -- (Marketwire) -- 09/23/08 -- Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS), a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to customers worldwide, met today with investors and analysts at its Annual Investor Conference to provide insights into the Company's successful transformation from Payless ShoeSource to Collective Brands, Inc. with its new, hybrid business model that has substantially diversified its business base in the year since the August 2007 acquisition of The Stride Rite Corporation by Payless ShoeSource, Inc.

Members of management provided analysts and investors with additional detail on the Company's new business model, which now includes three strategic business units -- Payless, Stride Rite and Collective Licensing International -- and a stable of iconic brands, the ability to bring forward innovative, on-trend targeted products through multiple channels (retailing, wholesaling, licensing and e-commerce) to new international markets, expanding product categories and broadening its price points, including at the premium level. The presentations covered new details on how the Company is leveraging each of its complementary platform's key business strategies, core competencies and unique competitive capabilities to meet its previously articulated financial and operating growth goals despite the challenging economic environment, and to drive growth that exceeds what each company -- Payless and Stride Rite -- would have achieved standing alone.

"Collective Brands has made tremendous progress toward its vision of becoming the preeminent, consumer-centric, global footwear, accessories and lifestyle brand company. In only one year's time -- a span that has encompassed one of the most difficult markets in recent memory -- the strategic rationale for creating Collective Brands and its new business model has been validated. By reaching customers through multiple price points and through a variety of retail, wholesale, licensing and e-commerce selling channels, we have been able to both maintain a steady state today, while continuing to leverage this exceptional foundation to drive growth and build value for the future. Growth is one of our key strategic themes. We are successfully extending the reach of our businesses and brand platforms internationally, as well as through product innovation, into new categories, and through global licensing to further amplifying our brands in the global marketplace," said Matthew E.