Brookstone Announces Third Quarter and Year-to-Date 2008 Financial Results


MERRIMACK, N.H. October 22, 2008 -- Innovative product development company and specialty lifestyle retailer Brookstone, Inc. today announced financial results for the third quarter and year-to-date ended September 27, 2008.

For the 13-week period ended September 27, 2008, Brookstone reported total net sales of $89.5 million, a 2.0% decrease from the comparable 13-week period of 2007. Same-store sales decreased 5.9% as compared to the comparable 13-week period last year.

For the 13-week period ended September 27, 2008, Brookstone reported a net loss of $10.4 million, compared to a net loss of $10.2 million for the comparable 13-week period last year.

For the 39-week period ended September 27, 2008, Brookstone reported total net sales of $276.7 million, a 0.8% increase from the comparable 39-week period of 2007. Same-store sales decreased 3.2% as compared to the comparable 39-week period last year.

For the 39-week period ended September 27, 2008, Brookstone reported a net loss of $30.8 million, compared to a net loss of $27.8 million for the comparable 39-week period last year.

Cash borrowings under the Company's $125 million revolving credit facility at the end of the third quarter were $23.1 million, as compared to $25.0 million at the end of the third quarter of 2007.

Lou Mancini, Brookstone Chief Executive Officer, said: "We believe our sales in the third quarter were affected by many of the negative factors rippling through the entire economy. We were pleased however, that we were able to mitigate much of this impact on the bottom line through expense reductions. With the exit of our closest competitor from dedicated retail outlets and direct marketing channels, there should be a significant opportunity to build on our market leadership through more new product introductions including OSIM healthy lifestyle products and self-use products such as the anti-snore pillow. We believe we are well positioned from a product and inventory position for the fourth quarter."

Brookstone, Inc. is an innovative product development and specialty lifestyle retail company that operates 312 Brookstone Brand stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls and airports, the stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The Company also operates a Direct Marketing business that includes the Brookstone catalog and an e-commerce website at http://www.brookstone.com.

Statements in this release which are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's confidence or expectations, earnings, anticipated operations of its e-commerce sites and those of third-party service providers, and other statements about the Company's operational outlook are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Reform Act") and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks of changing market conditions in the overall economy and the retail industry, consumer demand, the effectiveness of e-commerce technology and marketing efforts, availability of products, availability of adequate transportation of such products, and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's annual and other reports posted to the Company's website. Words such as "estimate", "project", "plan", "believe", "feel", "anticipate", "assume", "may", "will", "should" and similar words and phrases may identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company undertakes no obligations to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.


                              BROOKSTONE, INC.
                        CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                     (In thousands, except share data)

                                        ----------------------------------
                                          Sept 27,    Dec 29,    Sept 29,
                                            2008       2007       2007
                                        -----------  --------  -----------
                                        (Unaudited)            (Unaudited) 
Assets

Current assets:      
  Cash and cash equivalents                $1,680     $70,857    $1,489 
  Receivables, net                          9,811      12,816     7,890 
  Merchandise inventories                 110,919     106,400   120,824 
  Deferred income taxes, net               23,429       4,166    21,860 
  Prepaid expenses                          9,749       4,020    16,669 
                                          -------     -------   -------

     Total current assets                 155,588     198,259   168,732 

  Property, plant and equipment, net       72,224      71,918    70,449 
  Intangible assets, net                  129,000     129,500   130,666 
  Goodwill                                189,524     189,524   189,524 
  Other assets                              9,470      11,834    12,806 
                                          -------     -------   -------
     Total assets                        $555,806    $601,035  $572,177 
                                         ========    ========  ======== 
Liabilities and Shareholder's Equity

Current liabilities:      
  Accounts payable                        $24,155     $33,599   $29,420 
  Other current liabilities                34,271      61,214    34,543 
  Short-term borrowings                    23,050         ---    25,000
                                          -------     -------   -------
     Total current liabilities             81,476      94,813    88,963 

Other long-term liabilities                19,691      21,137    21,073 
Long-term debt, net of current portion    174,311     174,777   185,343 
Deferred income taxes                      43,258      42,999    44,522

Commitments and contingencies

Other party interests in consolidated 
 entities                                   1,230       1,250     1,127 

Shareholder's equity:      

Common Stock - $0.01 par value 1,000
 shares authorized, one share issued
 and outstanding                              ---         ---       --- 

Additional paid-in capital                240,996     240,380   240,169 

Accumulated other comprehensive income        572         593       140 

Retained earnings (deficit)                (5,728)     25,086    (9,160)
                                          -------     -------   -------
   Total shareholder's equity             235,840     266,059   231,149 
                                          -------     -------   -------

   Total liabilities and shareholder's 
    equity                               $555,806    $601,035  $572,177 
                                         ========    ========  ========




                               BROOKSTONE, INC.
                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
                                (In thousands)
                                 (Unaudited)

                                  Thirteen             Thirty-nine
                                 weeks ended           weeks ended
                            --------------------  --------------------
                             Sept 27,   Sept 29,   Sept 27,   Sept 29, 
                               2008       2007       2008       2007    
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net sales                      $89,471    $91,309   $276,662   $274,374

Cost of sales                   68,614     67,941    207,506    203,444
                               -------    -------    -------    -------
Gross profit                    20,857     23,368     69,156     70,930

Selling, general and 
 administrative expenses        31,361     32,755    100,328     95,621
                               -------    -------    -------    -------
Loss from operations           (10,504)    (9,387)   (31,172)   (24,691)

Loss on early 
 extinguishment of debt            ---        123        ---        123

Interest expense, net            6,076      6,575     17,600     18,741
                               -------    -------    -------    -------
Loss before taxes, other
 party interests in
 consolidated entities
 and discontinued operations   (16,580)   (16,085)   (48,772)   (43,555)

Other party interests in 
 consolidated entities             308        330        944      1,017 
                               -------    -------    -------    -------
Loss before taxes and 
 discontinued operations       (16,888)   (16,415)   (49,716)   (44,572)

Income tax benefit              (6,467)    (6,292)   (18,902)   (16,954)

Loss on discontinued
 operations, net of tax
 benefit                           ---        (68)       ---       (208)
                               -------    -------    -------    -------
Net loss                      $(10,421)  $(10,191)  $(30,814)  $(27,826)
                             =========  =========  =========  ========= 


            

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