TOWNS IN REGION COPE WITH JOBS LOSS FROM SHOE PLANT CLOSURES

The closing of the Brown Shoe Co. factory at Caruthersville two years ago could have been devastating.

"We lost 460 jobs," said Rick Davis, mayor of the small Mississippi River town. "But some workers found new jobs right away, others trained for new careers, and some settled into retirement."

Caruthersville, now home to Casino Aztar, a riverboat gambling operation, was more fortunate than some Midwest communities that have dealt with the loss of employment when shoe factories close.

During the past decade, Brown Shoe Co., which this month is shutting down its final five U.S. plants -- two in Missouri, two in West Tennessee and one in Northern Arkansas -- has closed more than 20 Missouri factories with the loss of thousands of jobs.

Brown Shoe, which was founded in 1878 and also made the well-known Buster Brown line of shoes for children, operated a total of 42 plants in the U.S. in 1970. This month's closings will see the company exit domestic shoe manufacturing altogether.

The company has been importing more and more shoes in recent years, with improving production in Italy, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan.

The shoe industry has been a mainstay in rural Missouri economies since the turn of the century. As many as 26,000 workers depended on Brown shoe for employment in the early 1970s. Many more worked in shoe factories during the peak years of the 1960s, when as many as 90 shoe plants operated in the state, included such communities as Jackson, Perryville, Malden, Piedmont, Ironton, Caruthersville, Charleston, and others.

During the early years of the century, two shoe factories were operating in Cape Girardeau -- Harley Shoe Co. and International Shoe -- with a combined total of more than 1,200 workers. As late as 1955, International Shoe employed 1,000 workers here.

Florsheim, which made its appearance in Cape Girardeau in the mid-1960s, is the only shoe factory operation left in the immediate area. The plant, at the intersection of Southern Expressway and South West End Boulevard, employs up to 500 people.

Florsheim previously had plants at Anna, Ill., and Paducah, Ky., along with a special sole-cutting center in the Nash Road Industrial Park between Cape Girardeau and Scott City.

Many communities have been forced to search elsewhere to find jobs for former shoe workers.

"We had a good swap here," said Davis, in reference to the Aztar operation, which has provided employment to 600 people at Caruthersville. "Aztar gave Caruthersville and Pemiscot County workers first chances at jobs. Had it not been for Aztar, things could have been devastating."

The one-level, 98,000-square-foot Brown Shoe building is for sale.

The city is considering buying the building as a spec facility for new business, Davis said. "From time to time, we receive inquiries about the building."

Caruthersville, meanwhile, has added a variety of new jobs since the shoe factory closed.

"We have a new container reconditioning company, which employs about 50 people," said Davis. "And we're looking at new fast-food establishments, and a new downtown motel."

Brown shoe plants are scheduled for closure at Charleston in Missouri and in Dyer, Tenn., this month.

"The Dyer plant is scheduled to close Thursday," said Kenneth McEwen, recorder for the city of 2,000 people. "Some of the people there are ready to retire and others will be undergoing retraining programs."

Dyer is also home to a number of other industries -- Wiscon-Total Power, a manufacturer of gasoline engines; Sanvik-Windsor Corp., which makes chainsaws; and Dyer Fruit Box, which produces wire-bound fruit boxes and is the city's oldest industry.

A new nursing home under construction in the city is expected to employ several people.

In nearby Kenton, Tenn., the old Brown Shoe factory that closed a number of years ago has been converted into Kenton Custom Molding, which employs up to 150 people.

When Brown closed its plant at Union City, Tenn., two years ago, about 300 workers were idled. But Gurien Finishing purchased the old plant and now employs 200 people.

David Hamilton, an industrial recruiter at Union City, has more good news for the city: A Tyson Foods plant which will employ up to 1,500 people is under construction, and 3,000-employee Good Year Rubber is expanding.

Meanwhile, in Charleston, some workers from the Brown Shoe plant are expected to be moved to the company's distribution center at Sikeston.

The Charleston plant employed as many as 500 workers at its peak, but cut two years ago to about 300, said Herb Llewellyn, Charleston city manager. During the past two years, the plant's workforce has dwindled to fewer than 100.

"Many workers have taken advantage of the retraining program and have been absorbed into other industries," said Llewellyn. During the past two years, Gates Rubber has expanded at Charleston and Stark Manufacturing, an auto parts producer, has purchased its own building and is employing more than 125 people.

The Brown Shoe factory at Sikeston closed years ago, but the distribution center remains.

"The center here provides distribution to a number of operations," said Bill Green, Sikeston economic developer. "We've met with Brown officials from time to time, and nothing has been said about the distribution plant being closed.

Meanwhile, a bank is now at the former Brown Shoe site in Sikeston.

Some new manufacturing facilities have moved into former shoe-factory buildings in Missouri.

At Cape Girardeau, a manufacturer of plastic bottles has moved into the former Florsheim warehouse building in the Nash Road Industrial Park area. Texberry Container Corp., a Houston-based company, occupies part of the former warehouse. Another part is being used for storage by Golden Cat Kitty Litter.

At Bernie, the old Brown plant is being used by Paramount Headwear. At Potosi, Red Wing Shoes operates in the former Brown plant.

In some cases, the closure of a shoe factory has resulted in new-found efforts to attract new employers.

A good example is the Union County Economic Development Committee at Anna, Ill., which was formed when two of that city's biggest employers -- Florsheim shoes and Bunny Bread Bakery -- closed their doors, resulting in the loss of more than 350 jobs.

The group eventually resulted in formation of the Southernmost Prison Committee, which worked to attract a super-max prison at Tamms, Ill., in Alexander County. The new prison will provide jobs for more than 300 workers when it opens next year.

The group then assumed a new "hat," becoming the Southernmost Development Committee, which is now working to attract industry to a five-county -- Alexander, Pulaski, Union, Johnson, Massac -- area in Southern Illinois.

At Fredericktown, a special economic development group was established following the close of Brown Shoe there. The goal of the group is to find replacement jobs for the more than 450 shoe factory workers who lost jobs there.