Document:

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                                                                 EXHIBIT 10.38

                                 AMENDMENT NO. 4
                             TO THE CREDIT AGREEMENT

         Dated as of March 17, 2000

                  AMENDMENT NO. 4 TO THE CREDIT AGREEMENT (this "Amendment")
among Iron Age Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the "Borrower"), Iron Age
Holdings Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the "Parent Guarantor"), the
banks, financial institutions and other institutional lenders parties to the
Credit Agreement referred to below (collectively, the "Lenders") and Banque
Nationale de Paris, as agent (the "Agent") for the Lenders, initial issuing bank
and swing line bank.

                  PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS:

                  (1) The Borrower, the Lenders and the Agent have entered into
a Credit Agreement dated as of April 24, 1998, a Letter Waiver thereto dated as
of August 28, 1998, an Amendment No. 2 and Waiver dated as of February 26, 1999
and an Amendment No. 3 and Waiver dated as of June 23, 1999 (such Credit
Agreement, as so amended, the "Credit Agreement"). Capitalized terms not
otherwise defined in this Amendment have the same meanings as specified in the
Credit Agreement.

                  (2) The Borrower and the Required Lenders have agreed to amend
the Credit Agreement as hereinafter set forth.

                  SECTION 1. Amendments to Credit Agreement. The Credit
Agreement is, effective as of the date hereof and subject to the satisfaction of
the conditions precedent set forth in Section 2 hereof, hereby amended as
follows:

                  (a) The definition of "Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio" set forth
         in Section 1.01 is amended by amending clause (a)(ii) thereof in full
         to read as follows:

                  "(ii) income taxes of the Parent Guarantor and its
                  Subsidiaries that have been paid in cash during such Rolling
                  Period (other than taxes paid in respect of the purchase of
                  Senior Subordinated Notes and Discount Notes at a discount in
                  accordance with Section 5.02(k)(ii)(z)) to"

                  (b) Sections 3.02(iii)(b) and (c) are amended by inserting in
         each case after the words "Senior Subordinated Notes" the words "or
         Discount Notes".

                  (c) Section 3.02(iv) is amended by deleting therefrom the
         following:

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                           ", plus, for the period beginning on the date that
                  the Borrower first makes an Acquisition Borrowing to finance
                  the purchase of Senior Subordinated Notes in accordance with
                  the terms set forth in Section 5.02(k)(ii)(z) and ending on
                  the date upon which the Required Lenders consent in writing to
                  the termination of such availability blockage, $3,000,000"

                  (d) Section 5.02(k) is amended in full to read as follows:

                           "(k) Prepayments, Etc. of Debt. (i) Amend, modify or
                  change in any manner, or permit any of their Subsidiaries to
                  amend, modify or change in any manner, any term or condition
                  of any Surviving Debt, any Subordinated Debt or the Discount
                  Notes or (ii) prepay, redeem, purchase, defease or otherwise
                  satisfy prior to the scheduled maturity thereof in any manner,
                  or make any payment in violation of any subordination terms
                  of, any Debt, or permit any of their Subsidiaries to do so,
                  other than (x) the prepayment of the Advances in accordance
                  with the terms of this Agreement, (y) if both before and after
                  giving effect to any such prepayment, redemption, purchase,
                  defeasance or other satisfaction, no Default has occurred or
                  would result therefrom, regularly scheduled or required
                  repayments or redemptions of Surviving Debt and (z) on or
                  prior to August 31, 2000, the purchase of Senior Subordinated
                  Notes and Discount Notes at or below par if (1) the Borrower
                  provides to the Lenders on or prior to the date of such
                  purchase a certificate (A) stating that both before and after
                  giving effect to any such purchase, no Default has occurred or
                  would result therefrom, (B) stating that, in the aggregate,
                  not more than $13,300,000 of the Acquisition Advances have
                  been used in connection with such purchase of Senior
                  Subordinated Notes and Discount Notes and that, in aggregate,
                  not more than $1,500,000 of the Acquisition Advances has been
                  used in connection with such purchase of Discount Notes and
                  (C) demonstrating in reasonable detail pro forma compliance
                  with Section 5.04 giving effect to such purchase, (2) any
                  proceeds of the Acquisition Advances used in connection with
                  such purchase shall not exceed $13,300,000 in the aggregate
                  and shall equal not more than 66 2/3% of the purchase price of
                  such Senior Subordinated Notes and Discount Notes and not less
                  than 33 1/3% of the purchase price of such Senior Subordinated
                  Notes and Discount Notes shall be paid with the proceeds of a
                  Permitted Issuance, and (3) any proceeds of the Acquisition
                  Advances used in connection with such purchase of the Discount
                  Notes shall not exceed $1,500,000 in the aggregate."

                  SECTION 2. Conditions of Effectiveness. This Amendment shall
become effective as of the date first above written when, and only when, the
Agent shall have received the following:

                  (a) Counterparts of this Amendment executed by the Borrower
         and the Required Lenders or, as to any of the Lenders, advice
         satisfactory to the Agent that such Lender has executed this Amendment,

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                  (b) The consent attached hereto executed by the Parent
         Guarantor and the Subsidiary Guarantors, and

                  (c) A certificate of each of the Borrower, the Parent
         Guarantor and each other Loan Party, signed on behalf of such Person by
         its President, any Executive Vice President or any Vice President and
         its Secretary, dated the date of this Amendment (the statements made in
         which certificate shall be true on and as of the date of this
         Amendment), certifying as to (A) the completeness and accuracy of the
         representations and warranties contained in the Loan Documents as
         though made on and as of the date of this Amendment, and (B) the
         absence of any event occurring and continuing, or resulting from this
         Amendment, that constitutes a Default,

This Amendment is subject to the provisions of Section 9.01 of the Credit
Agreement.

                  SECTION 3. Representations and Warranties of the Borrower. The
Borrower represents and warrants as follows:

                  (a) Each Loan Party is a corporation duly organized, validly
         existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction
         indicated in the recital of parties to this Amendment.

                  (b) The execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of
         this Amendment and the Loan Documents, as amended hereby, to which it
         is or is to be a party, are within the Borrower's corporate powers,
         have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and do not
         (i) contravene the Borrower's charter or by-laws, (ii) violate any law
         (including, without limitation, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
         amended, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Chapter
         of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970), rule or regulation
         (including, without limitation, Regulation X of the Board of Governors
         of the Federal Reserve System), or any order, writ, judgment,
         injunction, decree, determination or award, binding on or affecting the
         Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their properties, (iii)
         conflict with or result in the breach of, or constitute a default
         under, any contract, loan agreement, indenture, mortgage, deed of
         trust, lease or other instrument binding on or affecting the Borrower,
         any of its Subsidiaries or any of their properties or (iv) except for
         the Liens created under the Collateral Documents, result in or require
         the creation or imposition of any Lien upon or with respect to any of
         the properties of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries.

                  (c) No authorization or approval or other action by, and no
         notice to or filing with, any governmental authority or regulatory body
         or any other third party is required for the due execution, delivery or
         performance by the Borrower of this Amendment or any of the Loan
         Documents, as amended hereby, to which it is or is to be a party.

                  (d) This Amendment has been duly executed and delivered by the
         Borrower. This Amendment and each of the other Loan Documents, as
         amended hereby, to which

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         the Borrower is a party is the legal, valid and binding obligation of
         the Borrower, enforceable against the Borrower in accordance with its
         terms.

                  (e) There is no action, suit, investigation, litigation or
         proceeding affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries
         (including, without limitation, any Environmental Action) pending or
         threatened before any court, governmental agency or arbitrator that (i)
         could be reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect or (ii)
         purports to affect the legality, validity or enforceability of this
         Amendment or any of the other Loan Documents, as amended hereby.

                  SECTION 4. Reference to and Effect on the Credit Agreement and
the Loan Documents. (a) On and after the effectiveness of this Amendment, each
reference in the Credit Agreement to "this Agreement", "hereunder", "hereof" or
words of like import referring to the Credit Agreement, and each reference in
each of the other Loan Documents to "the Credit Agreement", "thereunder",
"thereof" or words of like import referring to the Credit Agreement, shall mean
and be a reference to the Credit Agreement, as amended by this Amendment.

                  (b) The Credit Agreement and each of the other Loan Documents,
as specifically amended by this Amendment, are and shall continue to be in full
force and effect and are hereby in all respects ratified and confirmed.

                  (c) The execution, delivery and effectiveness of this
Amendment shall not, except as expressly provided herein, operate as a waiver of
any right, power or remedy of any Lender or the Agent under any of the Loan
Documents, nor constitute a waiver of any provision of any of the Loan
Documents.

                  SECTION 5. Costs and Expenses. The Borrower agrees to pay on
demand all costs and expenses of the Agent in connection with the preparation,
execution, delivery and administration, modification and amendment of this
Amendment and the other instruments and documents to be delivered hereunder
(including, without limitation, the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for
the Agent) in accordance with the terms of Section 9.04 of the Credit Agreement.

                  SECTION 6. Execution in Counterparts. This Amendment may be
executed in any number of counterparts and by different parties hereto in
separate counterparts, each of

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which when so executed shall be deemed to be an original and all of which taken
together shall constitute but one and the same agreement. Delivery of an
executed counterpart of a signature page to this Amendment by telecopier shall
be effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart of this Amendment.

                  SECTION 7. Governing Law. This Amendment shall be governed by,
and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

                  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this
Amendment to be executed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized,
as of the date first above written.

                                  IRON AGE CORPORATION

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  BANQUE NATIONALE DE PARIS,
                                  as Agent, Swing Line Bank,
                                  Issuing Bank and as Lender

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------

                                     Title:

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------

                                     Title:

                                  KEY CORPORATE CAPITAL INC.

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  UBS AG, STAMFORD BRANCH

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

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                                     CONSENT

         Dated as of March 17, 2000

                  Each of the undersigned, as a Loan Party party to certain of
the Loan Documents (as defined in the Credit Agreement referred to in the
foregoing Amendment No. 4), hereby consents to such Amendment and hereby
confirms and agrees that (a) notwithstanding the effectiveness of such
Amendment, each Loan Document to which it is a party is, and shall continue to
be, in full force and effect and is hereby ratified and confirmed in all
respects, except that, on and after the effectiveness of such Amendment, each
reference in such Loan Document to the "Credit Agreement", "thereunder",
"thereof" or words of like import shall mean and be a reference to the Credit
Agreement, as amended by such Amendment, and (b) the Collateral Documents to
which such Loan Party is a party and all of the Collateral described therein do,
and shall continue to, secure the payment of all of the Secured Obligations (in
each case, as defined therein).

                                  IRON AGE HOLDINGS CORPORATION

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  IRON AGE INVESTMENT COMPANY

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:

                                  FALCON SHOE MFG. CO.

                                  By
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Title:<PAGE>   1

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.39

                    AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO 1997 STOCK OPTION PLAN

         The Iron Age Holdings Corporation 1997 Stock Option Plan ("Plan"),
originally effective February 26, 1997, is hereby amended effective April 8,
1999 by adding the following new clauses (iii) and (iv) to Section 6(c)(1) of
the Plan:

         (iii)    EXPIRED 1999 SERIES B OPTIONS

                  (A) This clause (iii) shall apply solely to the 1,131.63 Basic
B Options which expired under Section 6(c)(1)(ii)(A)(I) upon the Release Date
for the fiscal year of the Company ended on the last Saturday in January, 1999
("1999 Expired Options"). This clause (iii) shall be the exclusive means of
Vesting any of the 1999 Expired Options and shall apply notwithstanding anything
to the contrary in Section 6(c)(1)(ii)(A).

                  (B) The following proviso of Section 6(c)(1)(ii)(A)(I) shall
not apply to any of the 1999 Expired Options and none of the 1999 Expired
Options shall Vest in the Subsequent Year next succeeding the fiscal year ended
on the last Saturday in January 30, 1999 under the provisions thereof:

                  "and provided, further, that if the amount of Actual Earnings
                  for the fiscal year next succeeding such Shortfall Year (a
                  "Subsequent Year") equals or exceeds the sum of (x) the Target
                  Earnings for such Subsequent Year as set forth above plus (y)
                  the amount by which Target Earnings for such Shortfall Year as
                  set forth above exceeded Actual Earnings for such Shortfall
                  Year, the Annual Portion for such Shortfall Year shall, to the
                  extent not already Vested under the provisions of the first
                  proviso to this sentence, Vest at the Release Date for such
                  Subsequent Year."

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                  (C) With respect to 50% of the Option Shares represented by
the 1999 Expired Options (the "1999 Expired Option Shares"), such 1999 Expired
Options shall Vest solely upon a Sale Transaction as described in, and subject
to, the provisions of Sections 6(c)(1)(ii)(A)(II) and 6(c)(1)(ii)(A)(III) as to
the percentage of Expired 1999 Option Shares set forth in the following table:

                                                      PERCENT OF 1999
                   IRR                             EXPIRED OPTION SHARES
                   ---                             ---------------------

              Less than 23%                                  0%
          23% to less than 24%                              20%
          24% to less than 25%                              30%
          25% to less than 26%                              60%
          26% to less than 27%                              80%
               27% or more                                 100%

         (D) With respect to 50% of the 1999 Expired Option Shares, such 1999
Expired Options shall Vest solely upon a Sale Transaction as described in, and
subject to, the provisions of Section 6(c)(1)(ii)(B) as to the percentage of the
Expired 1999 Option Shares set forth in the following table:

                                                      PERCENT OF 1999
                   IRR                             EXPIRED OPTION SHARES
                   ---                             ---------------------

              Less than 31%                                  0%
          31% to less than 32%                              20%
          32% to less than 33%                              30%
          33% to less than 34%                              60%
          34% to less than 35%                              80%
               35% or more                                 100%

                                      -2-
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(iv)     YEAR 2000 SERIES B OPTIONS

         (A) This clause (iv) will apply solely to the 1,131.63 Basic B Option
Shares which will be subject to Vesting for the fiscal year of the Company
ending on the last Saturday in January, 2000 ("Year 2000 Options"). This clause
(iv) shall be the exclusive means of Vesting any of the Year 2000 Options and
shall apply notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section
6(c)(1)(ii)(A)(I).

         (B) With respect to the Year 2000 Options, such Options shall Vest on
the Release Date (as defined in Section 10) with respect to the fiscal year
ending on the last Saturday in January, 2000 ("Fiscal Year 2000") if the Actual
Earnings (as defined in Section 10) for such fiscal year shall equal or exceed
Target Earnings of $22,000,000.

         If the Actual Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000 fail to equal or exceed the
Target Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000, the Year 2000 Options shall expire on the
Release Date with respect to Fiscal Year 2000; provided, however, that if the
Actual Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000 exceed 95% of the Target Earnings for
Fiscal Year 2000, the Year 2000 Options shall Vest at the Release Date for
Fiscal Year 2000 in increments of one-fifth of the Option Shares represented by
the Year 2000 Options for each 1% (or portion thereof) of the Target Earnings
for Fiscal Year 2000 by which Actual Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000 exceed 95% of
the Target Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000; and provided, further, that if the
amount of Actual Earnings for the Subsequent Year next succeeding Fiscal Year
2000 equals or exceeds the sum of (x) the Target Earnings for such Subsequent
Year to be determined by the Board plus (y) the amount by which Target Earnings
for Fiscal Year 2000 exceeded Actual Earnings for Fiscal Year 2000, the Year
2000 Options shall, to the extent not already Vested under the provisions of the
first proviso to this sentence, Vest at the Release Date for such Subsequent
Year. In no event shall such Year 2000 Options Vest with respect to all fiscal
years as to more than the aggregate of all Option Shares represented by the Year
2000 Options.

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