Mothers Work Reports October 2004 Sales and Updates Earnings Guidance PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mothers Work, Inc. (NASDAQ: MWRK), the world's leading maternity apparel retailer, today announced that net sales for the month of October 2004 increased 7.0% to $43.2 million from $40.4 million reported for the month of October 2003. Comparable store sales for October 2004 increased 1.0% (based on 912 locations) versus a comparable store sales decrease of 5.5% (based on 851 locations) for the October 2003 period. During October 2004, the Company opened 5 stores, including 1 multi- brand store. The Company ended the month with 888 stores and 1,120 total retail locations, compared to 857 stores and 1,014 total retail locations at the end of October 2003. The comparable store sales increase of 1.0% for October 2004 was favorably impacted by approximately 3 percentage points due to having five Saturdays and five Sundays in October 2004 compared to four Saturdays and four Sundays in October 2003. This favorable "days adjustment" for October will be offset by an unfavorable days adjustment for November, since there are only four Saturdays and four Sundays in November 2004 compared to five Saturdays and five Sundays in November 2003. Thus, excluding the impact of the favorable "days adjustment," the Company estimates that its comparable store sales for October 2004 would have decreased approximately 2%. Rebecca Matthias, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mothers Work, noted, "We are pleased and cautiously encouraged by the significant improvement in our sales trend for October compared to the significant comparable store sales decline we experienced during the June through September period. We believe the improvement in our sales trend for October resulted primarily from: (1) the more typical Fall weather experienced in October compared to unseasonably warm weather experienced in September in many regions of the United States; (2) Fall product being the most important driver of sales in October, compared to the significant adverse impact on our June through September sales of the deep markdowns taken by our competitors to clear Spring and Summer inventories; (3) facing weaker last year sales comparisons in October than during the June through September period; and (4) our overall improved product assortments compared to a year ago. "Looking forward, we are very excited about our progress in developing our new strategic business initiatives to promote our continued long-term growth in sales and profitability, while addressing the increased competitive pressures in the maternity apparel market. We currently face maternity competition in over 1,000 more competitor locations than a year ago. As previously discussed, we expect that during the middle of fiscal 2005 we will be able to significantly expand the distribution in the United States of our maternity apparel through the expansion of our leased/licensed businesses, both with existing and new major retail partners with which we have finalized arrangements. We expect that these initiatives will greatly increase the number of retail "doors" through which our maternity apparel products are sold to consumers. We expect these initiatives will contribute to sales and earnings in fiscal 2005, and we expect to realize increased contribution to sales and earnings from these new initiatives in fiscal 2006, based on a full year contribution. We also continue to be very excited about the potential of our multi-brand store concepts, including our Destination Maternity(TM) Superstore, and plan to continue to open new multi-brand stores in fiscal 2005. "However, given the significant reduction in our fiscal 2004 sales and earnings since we previously provided fiscal 2005 earnings guidance, and given the continued increased competitive pressures we face, we expect that our fiscal 2005 earnings will be significantly lower than our previous guidance range of between $1.80 and $1.90 of diluted earnings per share, notwithstanding the expected positive contribution to earnings of the expansion of our leased/licensed businesses. We are in the process of finalizing our financial projections for fiscal 2005 and, on a preliminary basis, we believe that the range of our projected diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2005 will be no greater than, and may be less than, our projected diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2004 of between $1.02 and $1.10 per share. "We will report results for our fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 and hold an investor conference call on November 23, 2004, at which time we will provide additional information related to our results for the fourth quarter and discuss our strategic business initiatives. At that time, we will also finalize and discuss our fiscal 2005 financial guidance." Mothers Work is the world's largest designer and retailer of maternity apparel, using its custom TrendTrack(TM) merchandise analysis and planning system as well as its quick response replenishment process to "give the customer what she wants, when she wants it." As of October 31, 2004, Mothers Work operates 1,120 maternity locations, including 888 stores and 232 leased departments, predominantly under the tradenames Motherhood Maternity(R), A Pea in the Pod(R), and Mimi Maternity(R) and sells on the web through its maternitymall.com and brand-specific websites. The Company cautions that any forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or made from time to time by management of the Company, including those regarding expected results of operations and new business initiatives, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors. The following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect the Company's financial performance and actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements: our ability to successfully manage our new initiatives, future sales trends in our existing store base, changes in consumer spending patterns, raw material price increases, consumer preferences and overall economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, availability of suitable store locations, continued availability of capital and financing, ability to hire and develop senior management and sales associates, ability to develop and source merchandise, ability to receive production from foreign sources on a timely basis, potential stock repurchases, potential debt repurchases, war or acts of terrorism, and other factors set forth in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in materials incorporated therein by reference. Mothers Work press releases available through Company News On-Call at http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html DATASOURCE: Mothers Work, Inc. CONTACT: Edward M. Krell, Executive Vice President- Chief Financial Officer of Mothers Work, Inc., +1-215-873-2220 Web site: http://www.motherswork.com/ http://maternitymall.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html

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