Stein Mart, Inc. Reports September, YTD 2008 Sales

October 8, 2008 7:30 AM EDT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMRT) today reported total sales and comparable store sales for the fiscal period(s) ended October 4, 2008.

                         Total Sales (in millions)        Percent Change
                                                        Total    Comparable
    Fiscal period              2008         2007        Sales   Store Sales

    September (5 weeks)       $112.0       $127.2      (11.9)%      (14.8)%
    Quarter to date (9 weeks) $198.8       $219.7       (9.5)%      (12.7)%
    Year to date (35 weeks)   $862.6       $926.5       (6.9)%      (10.3)%

During September, ladies' casual wear produced the best comparable store sales performance, followed by ladies' accessories and special sizes. The most challenging businesses in September were gifts and linens. Geographically, sales were better than trend through the mid-section of the country and in the mid-Atlantic region, worse in the Southeast and the West.

September sales were negatively impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Hurricane Gustav caused store closures along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas at the beginning of the month; Hurricane Ike came ashore near Houston mid-month and closed stores throughout Texas and as far north as Ohio. The Company lost a total of 111 store selling days as locations were closed before, during and after the storms, and many more stores that remained open were negatively impacted as customers focused, understandably, on other priorities.

"Our business in September was significantly below our expectations," noted Linda M. Farthing, president and chief executive officer of Stein Mart, Inc. "In an already difficult environment, our stores in the path of the hurricanes saw their sales plummet, and following Hurricane Ike, the situation was exacerbated by post-storm gas shortages in many of our core Southeast markets such as Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta."

At October 4, 2008, there were 280 stores in operation as compared to 271 at the same time last year.

About Stein Mart

Stein Mart stores offer the fashion merchandise, service and presentation of a better department or specialty store, at prices up to 60 percent off department and specialty store prices, every day. Currently with locations from California to Massachusetts, Stein Mart's focused assortment of merchandise features current season, moderate to better fashion apparel for women and men, as well as accessories, gifts, linens and shoes.

SMRT-S

Additional information about Stein Mart, Inc. can be found at www.steinmart.com

SOURCE Stein Mart, Inc.

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