Exhibit 31.2
I, Frank A. Caruso, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period
         ending August 27, 2004 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)) 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.   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
    c.   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:  October 7, 2004                   /s/ Frank A. Caruso
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                                         Frank A. Caruso,
                                         Chief Financial Officer