EXHIBIT 99.1

STATEMENT UNDER OATH OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER REGARDING FACTS AND
CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO EXCHANGE ACT FILINGS

I, Steven J. Douglass, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Payless
ShoeSource, Inc. ("Payless"), state and attest that:

(1)  To the best of my knowledge, based upon a review of the covered reports of
     Payless, and, except as corrected or supplemented in a subsequent covered
     report:

     o    no covered report contained an untrue statement of a material fact as
          of the end of the period covered by such report (or in the case of a
          report on Form 8-K or definitive proxy materials, as of the date on
          which it was filed); and

     o    no covered report omitted to state a material fact necessary to make
          the statements in the covered report, in light of the circumstances
          under which they were made, not misleading as of the end of the period
          covered by such report (or in the case of a report on Form 8-K or
          definitive proxy materials, as of the date on which it was filed).

(2)  I have reviewed the contents of this statement with Payless' Audit and
     Finance Committee.

(3)  In this statement under oath, each of the following, if filed on or before
     the date of this statement, is a "covered report":

     o    2001 Annual Report on Form 10-K of Payless filed with the Commission;

     o    all reports on Form 10-Q, all reports on Form 8-K and all definitive
          proxy materials of Payless filed with the Commission subsequent to the
          filing of the Form 10-K identified above; and

     o    any amendments to any of the foregoing.

                                       Subscribed and sworn to before me this
/s/ Steven J. Douglass                 13th day of September, 2002.
------------------------------
Steven J. Douglass
Chairman of the Board and Chief        /s/ Deborah A. Ortega
Executive Officer                      --------------------------------------
Payless ShoeSource, Inc.               Notary Public
September 13, 2002                     My Commission Expires: December 2, 2004