Wolverine World Wide Reports 24th Consecutive Record Quarter.

ROCKFORD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1998--Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) continued to set the pace in global footwear with the announcement of its 24th consecutive quarter of record sales and earnings.

Net earnings for the third quarter ended September 12, 1998, rose 18% to $10.8 million compared to $9.2 million for the comparable 1997 quarter. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.25, a 19% increase above the $0.21 per share reported for last year's third quarter. Net earnings for the current nine months grew 24% to $26.4 million compared to $21.3 million for the same period last year. Year-to-date, earnings per share improved 24% to $0.61 per share from the $0.49 reported for the first nine months of 1997.

Net sales and other operating income for the third quarter of 1998 increased 1.4% to $164.5 million, despite the planned downsizing of the Hush Puppies U.K. business. Year-to-date net sales and other operating income rose 8.5% to $455.0 million.

"The Company performed well with all of our branded shoe and boot divisions achieving domestic sales increases for the third quarter, including a mid-single digit improvement in the U.S. Hush Puppies wholesale business," said Geoffrey B. Bloom, Chairman and CEO. "With the exception of the aforementioned resizing of the Hush Puppies U.K. operation, all our branded footwear divisions also reported higher global sales, despite competing in the toughest footwear market within memory."

Pointing out that marketing nine brands of footwear in 120 countries lessens the impact of regional fashion and economic trends, Bloom said the balanced sales growth in the domestic and international businesses enabled Wolverine World Wide to continue its tradition of deriving half of its income from overseas markets and half from the U.S.

"Our Wolverine and Caterpillar footwear divisions posted double-digit sales gains for the quarter," Bloom said. "Excluding the impact of the U.K. resizing, the Hush Puppies Company reported higher sales. The brand continues to demonstrate its strong consumer appeal, as evidenced by its successful licensing programs that include anticipated 1998 sales of more than one million Hush Puppies bean bag bassets and the sale of more than one-half million Hush Puppies eyewear units since the program's inception last year.

"Offsetting these net gains were volume shortfalls in our slipper business, reflecting high carryover inventories at retail, and lower volume in our Leather Division, which struggled for business during the quarter as split suede cowhide prices are at an eight-year low, or about half the price of our Wolverine performance pigskin," Bloom also said.

Stephen L. Gulis, Jr., Wolverine World Wide CFO, reported consolidated inventories grew 1.1% while year-to-date sales increased 8.5%. "We are pleased with our overall inventory management efforts. Current inventories include Merrell Footwear (which was acquired at the end of 1997) and the build-up of Harley-Davidson footwear in anticipation of shipments of this new brand in the fourth quarter," he added.

"Consolidated gross margins improved during the third quarter to 31.4% from 29.5%, a 190 basis point improvement, due in part to the benefits derived from our 1997 manufacturing restructuring plans and improved sourcing from the Far East. These same plans have improved the Company's year-to-date gross margins by 160 basis points to 31.9% compared with 30.3% for the first nine months of 1997.

"SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales were up marginally from the prior year to 22.1% for the first nine months, reflecting investment in major marketing and product development programs for the new Harley-Davidson, Merrell and global Coleman initiatives," he concluded.

"Our branded domestic footwear order backlog is up mid-single digits, and we are beginning to see orders from several new product initiatives, including our introductory line of Harley-Davidson footwear for men and women, Wolverine Fusion rugged outdoor comfort technology, and Hush Puppies kidskin women's casuals. Even in this tough global retail environment, we are well positioned to deliver our sixth consecutive record year and should post results near the top of our industry for 1998," Bloom concluded.

This press release contains certain statements and projections that may be considered forward looking by securities laws. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors affecting the Company's operations, markets, product services and prices, and actual results may differ materially.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. manufactures and markets a wide variety of branded footwear and performance leathers. Major branded products of the Company include: Bates(R) uniform footwear; Caterpillar(R) footwear; Coleman(R) footwear; Harley-Davidson(R) footwear; Hush Puppies(R) shoes, slippers and accessories; Hush Puppies Homeware(TM) slippers; Hy-Test(R) work boots and shoes; Merrell(R) outdoor footwear; Sioux-Mox(R) moccasins; Tru-Stitch(R) slippers; Wimzees(R) footwear; Wolverine(R) work, sport and rugged outdoor footwear, apparel and accessories; Wolverine DuraShocks(R) SR comfort technology; Wolverine Fusion(TM); and Wolverine All Season Weather Leathers(TM). -0-

                      WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.
                 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
                              (Unaudited)
               ($000's, except share and per share data)
                               12 Weeks Ended             36 Weeks Ended
                               ______________             ______________
                              Sept 12,        Sept 6,   Sept 12,    Sept 6,
                               1998         1997            1998       1997
                               ____         ____            ____       ____
Net sales and other operating
 income                    $ 164,486  $ 162,246  $ 455,002  $ 419,336
Cost of products sold             112,766        114,336    309,653    292,220
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Gross profit                      51,720         47,910    145,349    127,116
Selling and administrative
 expenses                      33,324         31,468    100,384     90,807
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Operating profit              18,396         16,442     44,965     36,309
Other expense                       2,166          2,913      5,358        5,044
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Earnings before income taxes  16,230         13,529     39,607     31,265
Income taxes                       5,399          4,330     13,233     10,005
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Net earnings                    $ 10,831        $ 9,199   $ 26,374   $ 21,260
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Earnings per share
  Basic                        $ .26          $ .22      $ .63        $ .51
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
  Diluted                       $ .25          $ .21      $ .61        $ .49
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
                           _________  _________  _________  _________
Shares used for computing
 earnings per share:
  Basic                   42,096,486 41,617,603 42,029,424 41,381,839
  Diluted                  43,346,374 43,569,020 43,581,795 43,474,576

                       CONDENSED BALANCE SHEET
                               ($000's)
                   Sept 12, Sept 6,                     Sept 12,  Sept 6,
                    1998     1997                       1998    1997
                    ____     ____                       ____    ____
ASSETS:                              LIABILITIES & EQUITY:
Cash & securities $ 8,853  $ 5,825   Notes payable    $ 7,896  $ 2,918
Receivables          159,100  128,965   Current maturities
                                      on long-term debt 4,417           135
Inventories          177,534  175,585   Accounts payable
                                      and other accrued
                                      liabilities      47,018        59,877
Other current                                              _______  _______
 assets            10,381   14,318   Total current
                  _______  _______    liabilities      59,331        62,930
Total current
 assets           355,868  324,693   Long-term debt   153,505  107,231
Plant & equipment,
 net                  104,320   77,945   Other noncurrent
                                      liabilities      11,904        11,002
Other assets           60,881   38,824   Stockholders'
                  _______  _______    equity              296,329  260,299
                                                      _______  _______
Total Assets         $521,069 $441,462   Liabilities &
                 ________ ________    Equity             $521,069 $441,462
                 ________ ________                     ________ ________
                                                     ________ ________