West Marine, Inc. reported net income for the third quarter ended September 27, 2003 of $8.1 million, or $0.39 per share, an increase of 16.6% compared to net income of $6.9 million, or $0.35 per share, a year ago. Net sales for the quarter were $191.9 million, up 27.3% from $150.7 million in 2002. Comparable store net sales for the quarter increased 1.2% from 2002.

Sales from the 62 BoatU.S. stores acquired in January 2003 are included in total sales, but are not reflected in comparable store sales statistics. Comparable store sales are defined as sales from stores where selling square footage did not change by more than 40% in the previous thirteen months and that have been open at least thirteen months.

Net income for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 27, 2003 was $21.7 million, or $1.08 per share, compared to $20.3 million, or $1.04 per share, for the same period last year. Net sales for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 27, 2003 were $536.0 million, an increase of 22.4% from sales of $437.9 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 27, 2003 decreased by 3.6% compared to the same period a year ago.

John Edmondson, West Marine's chief executive officer, stated, “The third quarter was our first positive comparable store sales quarter this year at 1.2%. As previously reported, we believe that due to unseasonable weather an unusually large number of our customers in the Northeast never put their boats in the water.

“We are currently running slightly positive comparable store sales month-to-date, and we anticipate that trend to continue through mid-November and then to improve for the remainder of the fourth quarter, primarily due to lower comparable store sales reported late in the fourth quarter last year. We expect net sales for the fourth quarter of approximately $125 million to $130 million, and our loss estimate for the fourth quarter remains in the range of ($0.11) to ($0.09) per share, versus last year's loss of ($0.07) per share. Our earnings estimate for 2003 ranges from $0.94 to $0.96 per share. Excluding acquisition-related costs incurred during the first quarter of $2.8 million, or $0.09 per share, we estimate our 2003 earnings per share to range from $1.03 to $1.05, compared to $0.97 per share last year.

“Looking to 2004, we expect net sales in the range of $719 million to $726 million and earnings per share to range from $1.40 to $1.47. This includes a comparable store sales estimate of approximately 4.0%.”

Our 2004 and fourth quarter 2003 sales and earnings estimates versus 2003 actual results for the first three quarters are as follows:

                            2004                    2003

1st Qtr. Net Sales   $126 M  to   $128 M     $111 M
                   --------- -- ---------  ---------
         EPS         ($0.19) to   ($0.17)    ($0.32)
                   --------- -- ---------  ---------
2nd Qtr. Net Sales   $258 M  to   $260 M     $233 M
                   --------- -- ---------  ---------
         EPS          $1.18  to    $1.21      $0.98
                   --------- -- ---------  ---------
3rd Qtr. Net Sales   $206 M  to   $208 M     $192 M
                   --------- -- ---------  ---------
         EPS          $0.50  to    $0.51      $0.39
                   --------- -- ---------  --------- -- ---------
4th Qtr. Net Sales   $129 M  to   $130 M     $125 M  to   $130 M
                   --------- -- ---------  --------- -- ---------
         EPS         ($0.09) to   ($0.08)    ($0.11) to   ($0.09)
                   --------- -- ---------  --------- -- ---------
  Total  Net Sales   $719 M  to   $726 M     $661 M  to   $666 M
                   --------- -- ---------  --------- -- ---------
         EPS          $1.40  to    $1.47      $0.94  to    $0.96
                   --------- -- ---------  --------- -- ---------

All estimates for 2004, including comparable store sales, include results from the 62 BoatU.S. stores acquired in January 2003.

                           West Marine, Inc.
              Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
                     For the Thirteen Weeks Ended
               September 27, 2003 and September 28, 2002
          (Unaudited, in thousands except per share amounts)

                                        13 Weeks         13 Weeks
                                       September        September
                                        27, 2003         28, 2002
                                   --------- ------ --------- ------
Net sales                           $191,916  100.0% $150,715  100.0%
Cost of goods sold, including
 buying and occupancy                134,127   69.9%  104,809   69.5%
                                   --------- ------ --------- ------
      Gross profit                    57,789   30.1%   45,906   30.5%
Selling, general and administrative
 expenses                             43,084   22.4%   33,811   22.4%
                                   --------- ------ --------- ------
      Income from operations          14,705    7.7%   12,095    8.0%
Interest expense                       1,487    0.8%      661    0.4%
                                   --------- ------ --------- ------
      Income before income taxes      13,218    6.9%   11,434    7.6%
Income taxes                           5,155    2.7%    4,516    3.0%
                                   --------- ------ --------- ------
          Net income                  $8,063    4.2%   $6,918    4.6%
                                   ========= ====== ========= ======

Net income per common and common
  equivalent share:
      Basic                            $0.41            $0.36
      Diluted                          $0.39            $0.35