*  Sales from continuing operations totaled $450 million, down 13% from 
    prior year due to weak economic environment

 *  Reported net loss from continuing operations of $24 million, down due 
    to weak market conditions and charges related to strategic initiatives

 *  Strategic plan acceleration now forecasted to provide an incremental 
    $15 million to $20 million in annual, run-rate savings

 *  Balance sheet remains strong with quarter-end cash of $132 million, 
    long-term debt of $200 million

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 6, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN) announced today its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008. These results are from continuing operations and exclude the impact of the first quarter 2008 sale and operations of Hickory Business Furniture ("HBF"). The sale of this business was announced in the fourth quarter of 2007 and has been treated as a discontinued operation in both the 2007 and 2008 periods.

Net sales for the 2008 second quarter were $450 million, compared with $519 million in the second quarter of 2007. Results from continuing operations were a loss of $0.49 per diluted share in the 2008 quarter compared to earnings per share of $0.09 for the second quarter of 2007. Results from continuing operations for the 2008 quarter include $30 million in pre-tax charges and factory downtime costs related to the effects of a weakening retail economy and our strategic initiatives and $6 million in fees related to implementation of the shared services organization and proxy-related costs. These charges equate to $0.53 per diluted share. Results from continuing operations for the 2007 quarter include $5 million in pre-tax charges, which equates to $0.07 per diluted share. A table detailing these numbers is attached to this press release.

Ralph P. Scozzafava, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Furniture Brands' current financial results are a true reflection of the macroeconomic environment and its impact on today's home furnishings industry. The need to drive efficiencies has never been greater, and our balance sheet provides us with the resources and flexibility to accelerate our strategic plan. We continue to build our commercial capabilities in the areas of product development, marketing and sales while eliminating waste in our cost structure. Once this phase of initiatives is fully implemented in mid-2009, the accelerated plan will generate $55 million to $70 million in run-rate savings over our current holding company model. The acceleration of the strategic plan will not only help Furniture Brands weather the current industry downturn, but it will position us as a stronger competitor for the future.

"We are aggressively reshaping Furniture Brands into a company that will succeed in our industry regardless of macro-economic conditions. In addition to the broad initiatives of domestic manufacturing consolidation and international expansion that we have previously outlined, we are also focused on the day-to-day aspects of our business that affect profitability. Our progress on this front is illustrated by the second consecutive quarter of improved gross margin performance and by continued strong inventory controls," Mr. Scozzafava said.

Mr. Scozzafava concluded, "Our strategic plan is the roadmap for Furniture Brands' success, and it encompasses more than cost reductions. Core elements of the plan include building on the power of our brands with consumers and winning in the store. We introduced a number of exciting new products at last week's Las Vegas market and unveiled a new e-commerce strategy to our retail partners. This fall, we'll launch our first products that incorporate in-depth consumer testing to enable our dealers to have a much higher success rate with our products at their stores. These and numerous other marketing efforts are being executed to deliver top-line performance that matches the progress we're making on delivering operational excellence."

Full Year Earnings Guidance

As disclosed on July 15, the company has revised its 2008 financial guidance to a GAAP net loss per share from continuing operations of $0.49 to $0.55. Charges related to the acceleration of the company's strategic plan as well as factory downtime costs from the weak economy, rent expense from closed stores, and advisory fees associated with the proxy contest and shared services implementations total $0.88 to $1.04 per share and are included in the revised guidance. The company is forecasting net sales for fiscal 2008 of $1.75 billion to $1.80 billion. The company also anticipates realizing a 2008 effective tax rate on continuing operations of approximately 27 percent primarily due to the inability to recognize tax benefits related to a portion of 2008 tax losses.

Quarterly Dividend Declared

The Board of Directors declared today a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per common share payable August 29, 2008 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 18, 2008.

Upcoming Investor Events

A conference call will be held to discuss second quarter results at 7:30 a.m. (Central Time) on August 7, 2008. The call can be accessed in Upcoming Investor Events on the company's website at furniturebrands.com under "Investor Info". Access to the call and the release will be archived for one year.

About Furniture Brands

Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN) is a vertically integrated operating company that is one of the nation's leading designers, manufacturers, and retailers of home furnishings. It markets through a wide range of retail channels, from mass merchant stores to single-brand and independent dealers to specialized interior designers. Furniture Brands serves its customers through some of the best known and most respected brands in the furniture industry, including Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Pearson, Hickory Chair, Laneventure, and Maitland-Smith.

The Furniture Brands International logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2757

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this document and in our public disclosures, whether written or oral, relating to future events or our future performance, including any discussion, express or implied, of our anticipated growth, operating results, future earnings per share, plans and objectives, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are often identified by the words "will,'' "believe,'' "positioned,'' "estimate,'' "project,'' "target,'' "continue,'' "intend,'' "expect,'' "future,'' "anticipates,'' and similar expressions that are not statements of historical fact. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results and timing of certain events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth under ``Risk Factors'' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the execution of our strategic plan; changes in economic conditions; loss of market share due to competition; failure to forecast demand or anticipate or respond to changes in consumer tastes and fashion trends; failure to achieve projected mix of product sales; business failures of large customers; distribution and cost savings programs; manufacturing realignments; increased reliance on offshore (import) sourcing of various products; fluctuations in the cost, availability and quality of raw materials; product liability uncertainty; environmental regulations; future acquisitions; impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets; anti-takeover provisions which could result in a decreased valuation of our common stock; loss of funding sources; and our ability to open and operate new retail stores successfully. It is routine for internal projections and expectations to change as the year or each quarter in the year progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that all forward-looking statements and the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations included in this report or other periodic reports are made only as of the date made and may change. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

                     FURNITURE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL
             CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
                  (in thousands except per share data)
                               (Unaudited)

                           Three Months Ended       Six Months Ended
                           --------------------  ---------------------
                            June 30,  June 30,    June 30,   June 30,
                              2008      2007        2008       2007
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Net sales                $ 449,870 $  519,471  $  927,070 $1,076,430
  Cost of sales              349,520    409,600     715,701    848,685
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Gross profit               100,350    109,871     211,369    227,745
  Selling, general &
   administrative
   expenses                  131,979    102,170     233,960    213,199
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Earnings (loss) from
   operations                (31,629)     7,701     (22,591)    14,546
  Interest expense             2,802      6,218       6,945     11,291
  Other income, net            1,081      5,951       3,317      6,383
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Earnings (loss) from
   continuing operations
   before income tax
   expense (benefit)         (33,350)     7,434     (26,219)     9,638
  Income tax expense
  (benefit)                   (9,354)     3,013      (5,971)     3,914
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Net earnings (loss) from
   continuing operations     (23,996)     4,421     (20,248)     5,724
  Net earnings from
   discontinued operations        52      1,387      29,920      2,961
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Net earnings (loss)      $ (23,944)$    5,808  $    9,672 $    8,685
                           ========= ==========  ========== ==========

  Earnings per common
   share - Basic and
   Diluted:
    Earnings (loss) from
     continuing operations $   (0.49)$     0.09  $    (0.42)$     0.12
    Earnings from
     discontinued
     operations            $    0.00 $     0.03  $     0.61 $     0.06
    Net earnings (loss)    $   (0.49)$     0.12  $     0.20 $     0.18

  Weighted average common
   shares outstanding -
    - Basic and Diluted       48,806     48,444      48,683     48,390


  Selected Items Included in Condensed Consolidated Statement
   of Operations

  The following items are included in our Condensed Statements of
  Operations for the periods indicated and are the result of our
  strategic initiatives and other matters.

                           Three Months Ended       Six Months Ended
                           --------------------  ---------------------
                            June 30,  June 30,    June 30,   June 30,
                              2008      2007        2008       2007
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
                              (in thousands)         (in thousands)
  Selected items
   (increasing)/decreasing
   earnings before income
   tax expense:
    Closed store
     expense (1)           $  11,207 $       --  $   13,420 $       --
    Plant closure expense
     (income):
       Cost of sales              92      1,150          92      1,581
       Selling, general,
        and administrative
        expenses                  --        290      (1,243)     1,038
    Accounts receivable
     charge (1)               11,111         --      11,111         --
    Factory downtime
     costs (2)                 7,505      7,496       9,804      9,092
    Proxy advisory fees (1)    1,290         --       1,877         --
    Shared services advisory
     fees (1)                  4,773         --       6,284         --
    Termination of hedge
     accounting (3)               --     (3,493)         --     (3,493)
                           --------- ----------  ---------- ----------
  Total                    $  35,978 $    5,443  $   41,345 $    8,218
                           ========= ==========  ========== ==========


  (1) Included in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
  (2) Included in cost of sales.
  (3) $4,088 gain from discontinuing hedge accounting in Other Income
      offset by $595 amortization of make-whole payment in
      Interest Expense.



                    FURNITURE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL
                 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                            (in thousands)
                              (Unaudited)

                                                  June       December
                                                   30,          31,
                                                  2008         2007
                                               ----------   ----------
  ASSETS

  Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents                  $  131,805   $  118,764
    Cash - Restricted                                  --       20,000
    Receivables, less allowances of $45,258
      ($45,467 at December 31, 2007)              249,674      292,694
    Inventories                                   391,302      401,302
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets      52,165       54,858
    Current assets of discontinued operations          --       12,236
                                               ----------   ----------
      Total current assets                        824,946      899,854

  Property, plant and equipment, net              180,169      178,564
  Intangible assets                               329,927      329,927
  Other assets                                     33,778       36,770
  Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations         --       17,963
                                               ----------   ----------
                                               $1,368,820   $1,463,078
                                               ==========   ==========


  LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

  Current liabilities:
    Current maturities of long-term debt       $       --   $   20,800
    Accounts payable                               82,766       93,557
    Accrued expenses and other current
     liabilities                                   92,847       67,735
    Current liabilities of discontinued
     operations                                        --        5,307
                                               ----------  -----------
      Total current liabilities                   175,613      187,399

  Long-term debt                                  200,000      280,000
  Other long-term liabilities                     141,577      150,772
  Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued
   operations                                          --          141

  Shareholders' equity                            851,630      844,766
                                               ----------   ----------
                                               $1,368,820   $1,463,078
                                               ==========   ==========



                    FURNITURE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL
            CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOW
                            (in thousands)
                              (Unaudited)

                                                  Six Months Ended
                                               -----------------------
                                                June 30,     June 30,
                                                  2008         2007
                                               ----------   ----------


  Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net earnings                                  $ 9,672      $ 8,685
    Adjustments to reconcile net earnings
     to net cash provided by operating
     activities:
      Depreciation and amortization                12,276       16,316
      Compensation expense related to stock
       option grants and restricted stock
       awards                                       2,024        1,895
      Provision (benefit) for deferred income
       taxes                                       (6,134)      (2,023)
      Gain on sale of discontinued operations     (48,109)          --
      Other, net                                   (1,603)      (3,402)
      Changes in operating assets and
       liabilities:
        Accounts receivable                        46,211       33,976
        Inventories                                17,843       25,653
        Prepaid expenses and other assets             316        1,407
        Accounts payable and other accrued
         expenses                                  10,325        9,417
        Other long-term liabilities                (3,206)       7,876
                                               ----------   ----------

    Net cash provided by operating activities      39,615       99,800
                                               ----------   ----------


  Cash flows from investing activities:
    Acquisition of stores, net of cash
     acquired                                      (9,505)      (4,241)
    Proceeds from the sale of discontinued
     operations                                    73,359           --
    Proceeds from the disposal of assets            3,297        5,961
    Additions to property, plant and equipment     (9,025)      (8,205)
                                               ----------   ----------
    Net cash provided (used) by investing
     activities                                    58,126       (6,485)
                                               ----------   ----------

  Cash flows from financing activities:
    Payment of debt issuance costs                     --       (1,042)
    Additions to long-term debt                        --        4,000
    Payments of long-term debt                   (100,800)     (14,800)
    Restricted cash used for the payment of
     long-term debt                                20,000           --
    Payments of cash dividends                     (3,892)     (15,495)
    Other                                              (8)          --
                                               ----------   ----------
    Net cash used by financing activities         (84,700)     (27,337)
                                               ----------   ----------

  Net increase in cash and cash equivalents        13,041       65,978
  Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
   period                                         118,764       26,565
                                               ----------   ----------
  Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $  131,805   $   92,543
                                               ==========   ==========


  Supplemental disclosure:
    Cash payments for income taxes, net        $    7,269   $    3,812
                                               ==========   ==========

    Cash payments for interest expense         $    8,539   $    9,587
                                               ==========   ==========

CONTACT:  Furniture Brands International, Inc. 
          John Hastings
          314-863-1100