Exhibit 31.2

I, Frank A. Caruso, certify that:

1.    I have  reviewed  this  Quarterly  Report  on Form  10-Q for the  period
      ending March 4, 2005 of The Stride Rite Corporation;

2.    Based on my  knowledge,  this  quarterly  report  does not  contain  any
      untrue  statement  of a material  fact or omit to state a material  fact
      necessary to make the  statements  made,  in light of the  circumstances
      under which such  statements  were made, not misleading  with respect to
      the period covered by this quarterly report;

3.    Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other  financial
      information  included in this  quarterly  report,  fairly present in all
      material  respects the financial  condition,  results of operations  and
      cash flows of the  registrant  as of, and for, the periods  presented in
      this quarterly report;

4.    The  registrant's  other  certifying  officers and I are responsible for
      establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls and  procedures (as
      defined in Exchange  Act Rules  13a-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  and internal
      control  over  financial  reporting  (as defined in  Exchange  Act Rules
      13a-15(f) and 15d - 15(f)) for the registrant and we have:

      a. designed  such  disclosure controls  and  procedures  or  caused  such
         disclosure   controls  and   procedures  to  be  designed  under  our
         supervision  to ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
         registrant,  including its consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made known
         to us by  others  within  those  entities,  particularly  during  the
         period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;
      b. designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
         internal  control over  financial  reporting to be designed under our
         supervision,   to  provide   reasonable   assurance   regarding   the
         reliability of financial  reporting and the  preparation of financial
         statements  for  external   purposes  in  accordance  with  generally
         accepted accounting principles;
      c. evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
         procedures  and  presented in this report our  conclusions  about the
         effectiveness  of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of the
         end of the period  covered by this report based on such  evaluations;
         and
      d. disclosed  in  this  report any  change  in the  registrant's  internal
         control over  financial  reporting  that  occurred  during the period
         covered by this quarterly report that has materially affected,  or is
         reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the registrant's  internal
         control over financial reporting;

5.    The registrant's other certifying  officers and I have disclosed,  based
      on our  most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
      reporting,  to the  registrant's  auditors  and the audit  committee  of
      registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing  the equivalent
      functions):

      a. all significant deficiencies  and material  weaknesses in the design or
         operation of internal  controls over  financial  reporting  which are
         reasonably  likely to adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
         record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
      b. any fraud,  whether or not material, that involves  management or other
         employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
         controls over financial reporting.

Date:  April 13, 2005                    /s/ Frank A. Caruso
                                         ---------------------------------------
                                         Frank A. Caruso,
                                         Chief Financial Officer