Fisher said that Jacksonville, FL-based Stein Mart plans to open 20 newstores during 2006, boosting the chain's presence from261 stores today. The new stores will be in new andexisting markets, he noted, adding that they will befunded exclusively through internal capital.

In addition to its expansion plans, Stein Mart willcontinue to improve its merchandizing and willretrofit its existing stores with new technology,Fisher said. Moreover, the chain has hired a new homedécor merchandising team to completely change thelineup in the stores. He stressed that theseinitiatives will provide improved earnings for thecompany. "We want to get back to that 7% profitmargin," he said.

During the past three years, Stein Mart has beenrepositioned to attract new customers and grow salesand earnings, Fisher said. Specifically, the company reformatted its stores to include a larger section for women's apparel; reduced inventory by 10%; cut back on its couponing program; and closed 30 underperformingstores.