DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse Announces New Store On South State Street In Downtown Chicago

Published Tuesday, May. 08, 2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 8, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer, announced that its newest store will open on May 10th at 35 South State Street in Chicago. Located in the popular State Street shopping district, this is the second downtown Chicago store and the 17th in the Chicagoland area.

“We’re very excited to announce the opening of this Chicago store,” stated Mike MacDonald, President and Chief Executive Officer, DSW Inc. “With our ever-growing presence in the area, we’re hoping to turn all Chicagoans into DSW Shoe Lovers.”

At just under 25,000 square feet, the State Street store boasts two floors of selling space, housing over 32,000 pairs of men’s and women’s shoes as well as accessories. Mike MacDonald and team will be leading a ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. opening day; the public is encouraged to attend. And, on Friday, May 11 from 3–5 p.m., ESPN Chicago will be in attendance, providing DSW State Street shoppers the chance to win free sports tickets.

DSW is the destination for savvy shoe lovers everywhere. Customers experience a breathtaking assortment of designer shoes at everyday value prices in a convenient assisted self-select shopping environment. Aisles are filled with the latest trends in women’s and men’s dress, casual and athletic shoes. In addition, the wedding shop collection features styles for the entire bridal party or any special occasion. For an even larger selection, dsw.com offers more styles, extended sizes and kids’ shoes.

DSW offers a free, award-winning loyalty program, DSW Rewards, where customers earn certificates toward future DSW purchases and receive special member-only offers. Customers can also participate in a lively shoe lover community on Facebook to receive exclusive offers and giveaways, including chances to win free shoes on Facebook each Tuesday, also known as “Free Shoesday.”

About DSW Inc.

DSW Inc. is a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer that offers a wide selection of brand name and designer footwear and accessories for women, men, and kids.  As of May 8, 2012, DSW operated 335 stores in 41 states and operated an e-commerce site, http://www.dsw.com, and a mobile website, http://m.dsw.com.  DSW also supplied footwear to 341 leased locations in the United States.  For store locations and additional information about DSW, visit http://www.dswinc.com. Follow DSW on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DSWShoeLovers and “like” DSW on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DSW.

SOURCE DSW Inc.

Team Services brings significant experience in the specialized area of naming rights sales and is widely regarded as one of the foremost agencies in the industry.  Among a long track record of notable successes, company Principals Fred Fried and E.J. Narcise have completed ground-breaking naming rights partnerships for numerous professional and collegiate partners, including the Baltimore Ravens (M&T Bank Stadium), Washington Redskins (FedEx Field), Houston Texans (Reliant Park), University of Maryland (Comcast Center), and most recently, Louisville Arena Authority (KFC Yum! Center).

“Tiger Arena will be a marquee sports and entertainment facility in the Mid-Atlantic and we are thrilled to be working with Team Services on the naming rights,” said Waddell. “Team Services is one of the industry leaders with great leadership and experience in the field. With a strong lineup of programming, including both sports and entertainment, this facility will create a strong corporate alignment and make the Towson Community and the greater Baltimore area a destination for years to come.”

The new arena will be home to Towson University men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics, as well as major community events, musical performances and family shows.  Designs call for a full complement of modern amenities, including luxury suites, loge boxes, multi-media video and LED boards, an athletics Hall of Fame and more.  In addition to serving as the hub for Towson athletics and student events, it is also anticipated that high school sports championships, graduations, fine arts and other events will make the arena a true year-round community center.

“Towson University has established itself as a leader academically, socially and athletically in the Mid-Atlantic region” said Narcise. “The new arena will become the centerpiece of Towson’s commitment to strengthening its student experience and fulfilling its metropolitan mission to meet the needs of the region by upgrading its unparalleled facilities. The arena project is a momentous step forward for Tigers Athletics and will contribute to the university’s continued growth and prominence in the region.  We are honored to have been chosen and excited for the opportunity to represent Towson University in the effort to engage the corporate partners.” 

Team Services has already initiated the partnership sales process and is engaging leading regional and national companies. New program packaging efforts are underway, with the first on-site visits and presentations to potential partners scheduled for the coming weeks.

For more information on the new arena and for architect renderings, please visit www.TigerArena.com.

About Towson University

Towson University offers the most comprehensive sports program in the metropolitan Baltimore area, fielding 20 varsity teams that compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Since joining the league in 2001-02, the Tigers have won CAA titles in men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming and diving, men’s soccer and men’s golf and last fall added a championship in football led by Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Rob Ambrose and Jerry Rice National Freshman of the Year Terrence West. During an athletics history that traces its roots to the 1920’s, Towson has sent teams and individual student-athletes to NCAA post-season competition in baseball, basketball, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, track & field and volleyball. Tiger student-athletes have distinguished themselves in the classroom as well as on the field of competition. Eleven Tigers have been named CAA Scholar-Athlete Award Winners for their respective sports, including the 2010 cross country recipient, Brandi Gervais, a senior Biology/Pre-Dentistry Major with a perfect 4.0 GPA. A number of student-athletes have gone on to enjoy professional careers, including most recently Jermon Bushrod, the starting left offensive tackle for the 2010 Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints; outfielder Casper Wells with the Detroit Tigers; and shooting guard Gary Neal with the San Antonio Spurs.

About Team Services, LLC

Team Services, based in Rockville, Maryland, is an industry-leading partnership marketing agency. The company specializes in providing high-level sponsorship sales, marketing and consulting services to professional franchises, universities, and corporations.  Team Services has completed naming rights partnerships on behalf of clients in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NCAA and leads “Fuel Up to Play 60,” a national fitness and nutrition program co-owned by America’s Dairy Farmers and the NFL.  To learn more about Team Services, log on to their website at www.teamservicesllc.com.

These ads were designed to highlight the importance of breakfast, drinking milk and making at least 60 minutes of physical activity a part of everyone’s daily routine.  Visit whymilk.com to learn more about the Got Milk Campaign.  To learn more about Fuel Up to Play 60 – a fun, interactive program that encourages your kids to eat right and be active for at least 60 minutes every day, please visit fueluptoplay60.com

  iHigh offers free live broadcasts that can be streamed in real time on the site and are available on mobile devices (iPhone, Android, iPad, etc.) for viewing on the go.  iHigh currently has 6,400 registered schools and youth sport organizations, including many top programs such as St. Thomas Aquinas High School (FL),  Hoover High School (AL), and Colerain High School (OH), as well as nationally renowned governing bodies  such as USA Swimming.

Team Services will develop strategic partnerships for iHigh with National advertisers.  Partners of the site can utilize rich video features as well as interactive, geo-targeted content and many other unique capabilities.   Team Services is excited to work together with the iHigh Team to create relationships that will contribute to the vision of creating the premier digital youth network.

After having his second round was delayed until Saturday due to rain and rallying to make the cut by a single stroke, Bramlett turned in two of the best performances of the final rounds. Joseph’s bogey-free third round and his 66 in the final round helped him climb up the leader board. His final tournament score of 15-under is his lowest score to par thus far. He finished seven strokes behind fellow rookie Chris Kirk, who won his first PGA Tour tournament.

Last year Team Services secured Yum! Brands as the naming rights partner for the new arena in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.  The KFC Yum! Center opened to rave reviews in the fall of 2010 and today it is being touted as a primary economic driver for growth in Louisville. 

In a new series of advertisements by Goldman Sachs themed “Progress,” the arena is credited with creating thousands of direct jobs through the construction and operation of the arena, and many more indirect jobs through growth of surrounding businesses. 

A third-party economic impact survey credited the arena with spurring over $470M in economic development between 2007 and 2010, and forecasts an additional $450M in major projects over the next five years.

Joseph encouraged the young players in attendance to embrace the core values of The First Tee organization: Honesty, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Respect, Confidence, Responsibility, Perseverance, Courtesy, and Judgment.  He gave specific examples about from his life. “The two that stand out in my mind are honesty and perseverance. My parents really stressed honesty when I was a little kid. … Perseverance is really important. All of us face difficult challenges in our life. When you are about to face challenges in your life, I would tell you, ‘Don’t let anybody tell your dreams are dumb, aren’t right. I love golf. I was true to myself. I followed my dreams.’’’

Team Services is proud to represent Joseph, who was a leader on an NCAA national championship team at Stanford and became the first African-American golf in 25 to advance through the PGA Qualifying Tournament.  Joseph was pleased to have the opportunity to support The First Tee program, which provides young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop life-enhancing values such as confidence, perseverance and judgment through golf and character education.

From the time he was crawling around the house with a little plastic club, Joseph Bramlett loved golf. So much so that as a kindergartner he told the class he wanted to grow up and one day play on the PGA Tour.

His hope never wavered despite odd stares he saw when his parents followed him and the unkind words he sometimes heard as he played in junior golf events. And he never lost sight of his goal during a 20-month period in college when he couldn’t hit a golf ball because of a severe injury to his right wrist, a time during which he often watched an inspirational tape to perk up his spirits.

“I remember thinking,” Bramlett said in a phone interview, “that if someone can climb Mount Everest, I can get through a wrist injury.”

Now Bramlett, 22, hopes to inspire. When he hits his first tee shot Thursday in the Sony Open in Hawaii, Bramlett will join Tiger Woods as the only players of black descent who have Tour cards. Bramlett, whose father is black and mother white, became the first golfer of African-American heritage to graduate from Q-School since Adrian Stills did so 25 years ago, using a final-round, 4-under-par 68 at Orange County National in Orlando last month to finish in a tie for 16th in the six-round final stage.

“It truly is an honor for me, and I hope this can start to change things,” the long-hitting, 6-4 Bramlett said. “I’m not always the most common looking person on the golf course, so hopefully if I can play well this year, I can inspire kids to know that if I can do it, they can do it.

“Hopefully we can change the demographic out there.”

That was the hope back in 1997 when Woods won the Masters. But while diversity changed among fans, Woods remained the lone black on Tour. Bramlett thinks enough time hasn’t passed for that to have changed.

“Tiger inspired a lot of young kids to play golf, but just because you inspire people to play, that doesn’t mean that within five or 10 years they’re going to be out on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It takes time.

“It’s a process. There are several black players that are up and coming. I think in the next two or three years you’ll see more African-American players out here on the PGA Tour.”

Still, Woods inspired Bramlett, who plastered posters of Woods on his bedroom walls after the ’97 Masters. Later, Bramlett competed in the Junior World Championship in San Diego with a team sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation. And when Woods attended Stanford, Bramlett and his father drove 20 miles from their home in San Jose to watch Woods play.

Now, Woods and Bramlett are products of Stanford (Bramlett earned his degree in Communications in 31/2 years) and both are sponsored by Nike.

“It meant a lot to me to see somebody I kind of identified with,” said Bramlett, who at 14 became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur in 2002 and as a freshman was an All-America and helped lead the Cardinal to an NCAA title. “At first I really didn’t understand the significance of his background. It was more about seeing him compete, how he set high goals, and how he gave it everything he had.”

But it was his father, Marlo, an executive with a sheet-metal company, and mother, Debbie, who provided the most inspiration, starting at age 2 when Bramlett would emulate his father as he swung a golf club in front of a full-length mirror. Then Debbie started toting her son, the oldest of three children, to and from the driving range and golf courses when he turned 6, often a journey of four hours roundtrip that started at 4:30 a.m.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Bramlett said. “They’ve always been there for me and always will be. There were definitely things I had to deal with that a lot of young golfers probably don’t. That’s the way it was. But it brought the three of us closer together.

“They always made me feel comfortable in who I am.”

Marlo Bramlett thinks his son will be just as comfortable on the PGA Tour.

“Hopefully, one day, we can get past the color of a player’s skin,” he said. “Hopefully, the talk will be just about 156 players and it won’t be about 154 players and two players of black descent. The more players that come out and get on Tour who are African-American, the faster a lot of this will go away. But there are issues out there that some people have ansd that won’t change. But we’ve never allowed Joseph or any of our kids to use it as an excuse not to do something. They know they have to go out and perform.

“He’s in his element. He’s living his dream. He loves golf. He knows the PGA Tour is where he belongs and he will do everything to stay out there.”

Fred Fried will represent Joseph Bramlett, the first golfer of African-American heritage to graduate from the PGA Tour’s qualifying school in 25 years.

Bramlett’s potential impact on golf, as the only PGA Tour member of black descent other than Tiger Woods, is clear. But he might be making an impact on Fried’s agency, Team Services LLC, as well.

Fried, the former ProServ and SFX executive, co-founded Team Services in 2002 and the firm primarily has been known for selling naming rights to buildings like the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, 3Com Park in San Francisco and the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland, Fried’s alma mater.

One thing Team Services has not done until now is represent athletes, although it’s something with which Fried has extensive experience from his previous stops. Over the years, Fried has directed the marketing activities of Michael Jordan, Steve Young, Boomer Esiason and Dan Jansen, among others.

GETTY IMAGES 

Joseph Bramlett has drawn comparisons to
Tiger Woods on several levels.

 

Now Bramlett is the first athlete client at Team Services and Fried is not discounting the possibility of more work in the golf space.

“We would consider expanding in golf,” said Fried, who co-founded Team Services with his partner, E.J. Narcise. “It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. If you’re doing things the right way, a natural question for companies to ask is whether or not you have other golf clients. … We’re not a player rep business. In fact, we made a conscious decision not to be a player rep business, but this time we made an exception.”

For now, Fried’s complete attention is on Bramlett, 22, a long-hitting 6-foot-4 graduate of Stanford. Fried signed Bramlett without any competition from traditional player rep agencies.

A mutual friend introduced Fried to Bramlett’s father, Marlo, two years ago and they struck up a relationship that led to talks about representation. The Bramletts never interviewed other agents.

“We found similar value points and connections on several fronts,” Fried said. “Joseph has some unique opportunities in front of him.”

Bramlett already is drawing comparisons to Woods. Both went to Stanford, come from racially mixed families and wear the Nike swoosh, but Fried is quick to point out that Bramlett and Woods traveled significantly different paths to the tour.

Woods left Stanford after two years, won on tour during his first season and never had to go to qualifying school. Part of Bramlett’s charm is that he overcame a serious wrist injury in college, and doggedly advanced through all three stages of Q school to earn his tour card.

Bramlett played Nike equipment and wore its apparel as part of the school’s all-sports deal with the brand, and that association will likely continue into Bramlett’s professional career. Fried is deep into talks to have Nike on Bramlett’s bag, joining other Nike golfers like Woods, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard, Paul Casey and Anthony Kim.

Fried envisions two or three more sponsors — endemic and non-endemic — coming on board in 2011 during Bramlett’s rookie season.

“There will probably be fewer corporate relationships in the first few years than what Tiger had,” Fried said. “Tiger came out, won twice and was exempt, and then won the Masters. He’s a totally different case than a guy who is thinking about top 125 on the money list.”

Fried also will seek relationships that will help Bramlett promote the game to the African-American audience.

“There is an underlying importance culturally to him succeeding,” Fried said.

Bramlett will be featured in NBC’s coming golf show “Ticket to the Tour,” which looks at newcomers on the PGA Tour. While the PGA Tour will be promoting its young stars in 2011, Bramlett is not expected to be among them, said a tour spokesman, because he has not yet hit a shot as a tour member.

Food Distribution to Families

Manna’s regular food distribution program feeds approximately 3,300 families each month. Every client is referred to Manna through one of our partnerships with 360 different organizations. Clients may pick up food every 30 days at one of Manna’s distribution sites located all across Montgomery County. They receive a 3-5 day supply of perishable and shelf-stable food. We also deliver food directly to several low-income apartment complexes and community centers across the county.

Smart Sacks

In 2005, Manna founded Smart Sacks which partners Manna, local businesses and organizations with elementary schools. Together we provide the children with backpacks full of kid-friendly food every Friday so they have food on the weekends when there are no school meals to sustain them.

Food Distribution to Agencies

Manna also provides food to dozens of Montgomery County agencies including soup kitchens, food pantries, group homes, and emergency shelters throughout Montgomery County. These agencies have limited funds to address the root causes of poverty and hunger. 

From all of us at Team Services, we wish you a healthy holiday and a prosperous New Year!