US footwear company Stride Rite Corp. is to cut 120 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, following a drop in earnings for the third quarter. Poor economic conditions and a difficult retail market were blamed for the results. The company said that the job cuts could save around $10 million per year.

Sales fell 6% to $135.4 million in the third quarter, and the company said that it expected losses in the fourth quarter to be between 6 and 8 cents per share – worse than the 4 cents originally forecast. Stride Rite owns 120 retail outlets, and sells its own brands including Keds, Pro-Keds and Street Hot.