By the end of 2010, Macy’s will operate 11 stores in the Phoenix/Scottsdale metropolitan area.

“We are very excited to expand our presence throughout the growing Phoenix/Scottsdale region,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s West, the division responsible for the Arizona market. “The fashion and affordable luxury that Macy’s delivers is important to our customers in Arizona, and these new locations will provide additional convenience and access for our shoppers.”

Each of the new locations will offer apparel and accessories for the family, along with selected merchandise for the home. The stores will be designed specifically for the open-air, lifestyle-center concept including a new “main street” entrance configuration and an emphasis on natural lighting via skylights and exterior windows.

The developer of SanTan Village and Estrella Falls is Santa Monica, Calif.-based Macerich. CityNorth is being developed by The Related Companies and Thomas J. Klutznick Company.

Macy’s West is headquartered in San Francisco and operates 259 Macy’s stores in 13 states and Guam.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation's premier retailers, with fiscal 2007 sales of $26.3 billion. The company operates more than 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy's and Bloomingdale's. The company also operates macys.com, bloomingdales.com and Bloomingdale's By Mail. Prior to June 1, 2007, Macy’s, Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores, Inc.

Customers can now not only shop, but can also create original Wet Seal styles by building outfits using the entire online assortment. Key features of the fashion community include the ability to build, tag, share and purchase outfits through a personalized boutique, build a fashion network by chatting with other stylists in the message center, and rate and purchase other stylists’ outfits in “The Runway.”

“The launch of the fashion community adds an exciting feature to our already engaging website, www.wetseal.com. It brings a fashion-focused, social networking element to the site to enhance the user experience online,” said Ed Thomas, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. “We think this is going to be a great new tool, which could not only increase average visit time on the site, but also could improve online and in-store sales by allowing our girl to choose among thousands of outfits generated and rated by her peers.”

The Company also developed an online demo, which walks the customer through each feature of the fashion community. The demo can be found online at www.wetseal.com/community.

Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, The Wet Seal, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items. As of April 5, 2008, the Company operated a total of 495 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 400 Wet Seal stores and 95 Arden B stores. The Company’s products can also be purchased online at www.wetseal.com or www.ardenb.com. For more company information, visit www.wetsealinc.com

You can discuss this new community at the fashion network site.

Reconfirms Fiscal 2008 Outlook

The Talbots, Inc. is planning for top-line growth of approximately 3%. This plan is based on slightly negative total Company comparable store sales.

Fiscal 2008 earnings from continuing operations are expected to be in the range of $0.47 to $0.52 per diluted share. The Company is planning for a loss from discontinued operations in the range of ($0.64) to ($0.59) per share, for a total loss per share in the range of ($0.17) to ($0.07), compared to the ($3.56) loss per share reported in fiscal 2007.

The Company believes that if it achieves this plan, it will have sufficient liquidity to fund the continued turnaround of its business. The Talbots, Inc. has revised its payment terms with its major vendors, resulting in enhanced financial flexibility and increased operating cash flow. In addition, the Company currently has working capital lines of credit totaling $165 million and believes that these lines will be adequate to fund its fiscal 2008 working capital requirements under its current plan.

Conference Call Dial-in Information

The call will take place today, April 18, at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). In order to participate in the conference call, please dial 866-336-2423 approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time and give the passcode "TLB".

If you are unable to participate in the conference call, you may listen to a replay of the call by dialing 800-642-1687 passcode 44416870. Please note the replay will be made available from approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 20, 2008. This call will also be simultaneously broadcast live over the Internet at www.thetalbotsinc.com/ir/ir.asp and will be archived on the Company's website for a period of 12 months.

The Talbots, Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories. The Company currently operates a total of 1,422 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and the U.K., with 1,149 stores under the Talbots brand name and 273 stores under the J. Jill brand name. Both brands target the age 35 plus customer population. Talbots brand on-line shopping site is located at www.talbots.com and the J. Jill brand on-line shopping site is located at www.jjill.com.

Jim Scarborough, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We want to sincerely thank Mike for the outstanding job that he did as our EVP, Chief Financial Officer, and for his invaluable contributions to our Company. Mike not only played a lead role in our successful reorganization efforts, but he was also instrumental in bringing about many needed changes and improvements in our financial reporting, information services and logistics areas. Mike clearly has been a key team member during his seven years at Stage Stores, and we wish him the very best as he begins this new phase of his life.”

Stage Stores, Inc. brings nationally recognized brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics and footwear for the entire family to small and mid-size towns and communities through 701 stores located in 35 states. The Company operates under the Bealls, Palais Royal and Stage names throughout the South Central states, and under the Peebles name throughout the Midwestern, Southeastern, Mid-Atlantic and New England states. For more information about Stage Stores, visit the Company’s web site at www.stagestores.com.