Stein Mart, Inc. announced total sales and comparable store sales for the fiscal period ended April 2, 2005, as follows (dollars in millions):

                                Total Sales              Percent Change

    Fiscal Period:                                     Total      Comparable
                             2005         2004         Sales      Store Sales
    March (5 weeks)         $153.6       $153.7        -0.4%        -0.9%
    Year-to-date (9 weeks)  $258.9       $251.9         2.7%         1.9%

Men's clothing and furnishings led the company in sales, followed by ladies' accessories and men's sportswear. Geographically, sales were strongest in Texas and Florida.

“Our business accelerated in the week before Easter and continued to be positive,” commented Michael D. Fisher, president and chief executive officer of Stein Mart, Inc. “We expect April comparable store sales to increase in the mid-single digit range, which would produce a comparable store sales increase of 3-4% for the first quarter of 2005.”

The company operated 260 stores on April 2, 2005 as compared to 260 stores at the same time last year.


Investor Conference

Stein Mart president and chief executive officer Michael D. Fisher will deliver a presentation at the SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Institutional Investor Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 at 8:50 a.m. ET. The presentation will be webcast live at http://www.wsw.com/webcast/strh13/smrt or http://www.steinmart.com (click on Investor Relations). Interested parties may listen to the archived webcast at either location for two weeks.


First quarter 2005 news release date

Full financial results for the company's first quarter ending April 30, 2005 will be released prior to the opening of the financial markets on Thursday, May 19, 2005. Also on May 19, a conference call with management to discuss first quarter results will be held at 10:30 a.m. ET. Interested parties may listen to the call via a real-time webcast on http://www.steinmart.com , or hear a recorded version on Stein Mart's website until the end of the month.