TROY, Mich., and NEW YORK, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kmart
Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: KMRT) and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
(MSO) announced today that the companies have reached an agreement that serves
the best interests of both companies by extending and amending several terms
in their long-term distribution contract for the Martha Stewart Everyday brand
label. The revised agreement better aligns the two companies' mutual business
interests by extending the Martha Stewart Everyday partnership two years,
through 2009; expanding the scope to several new product categories including
ready-to-assemble furniture; eliminating the product category minimum
guarantee but not the aggregate minimum guarantee features of the contract;
and making other adjustments that, taken as a whole, benefit both companies.
In conjunction with this amended agreement, Kmart also announced today
that it will withdraw the lawsuit -- pertaining to the interpretation of
contractual language in the original contract -- filed by Kmart against MSO IP
Holdings Inc. in Bankruptcy Court in February 2004.
"We are pleased to have extended and deepened our relationship with Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia. Kmart is committed to providing the highest quality
and value-driven products to our millions of loyal customers nationwide, and
the Martha Stewart Everyday brand is a great example of this commitment," said
Julian C. Day, President and CEO of Kmart. "MSO is an extremely valued brand
partner and we look forward to continuing that relationship on terms that best
benefit both companies."
"This is an exciting development," said Sharon Patrick, President and CEO
of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. "We are delighted that Kmart will
continue to be a foundation partner for MSO throughout the decade, and that
our two companies have found mutually agreeable ways to improve upon our
beneficial relationship. Reaffirming this highly successful partnership is
due in large part to our confidence in the strength and acumen of Kmart's new
management team." Ms. Patrick added: "We know that Martha Stewart Everyday's
new and existing product offerings will continue to deliver the perfect
combination of inspiration, high-quality, style, and utility that our
customers love and expect from us."
Kmart sells Martha Stewart Everyday Home, Garden, Holiday, Colors,
Kitchen, Keeping and Decorating, Candles, Baby, and accessory product lines.
All collections, with the exception of Martha Stewart Everyday Colors, are
available exclusively at Kmart and online at kmart.com .
About Kmart Holding Corporation
Kmart Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: KMRT - News) and its subsidiaries (together,
"Kmart") is a mass merchandising company that offers customers quality
products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Thalia Sodi,
Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Kathy Ireland, Martha Stewart Everyday, Route 66 and
Sesame Street. Kmart operates more than 1,500 stores in 49 states and is one
of the largest employers in the country with approximately 158,000 associates.
For more information visit the Company's website at www.kmart.com .
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Other
Matters
Statements made by Kmart which address activities, events or developments
that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 that reflect Kmart's current views with respect to current events and
financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are based upon
assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be
inaccurate and involve risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from any anticipated future results,
express or implied, by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, factors relating to Kmart's
internal operations and the external environment in which it operates; Kmart's
ability to successfully implement business strategies and otherwise fund and
execute planned changes in various aspects of the business marketplace; demand
for the products of Kmart's key brand partners as well as the engagement of
appropriate new brand partners; changes in consumer spending and Kmart's
ability to anticipate buying patterns and implement appropriate inventory
strategies; Kmart's ability to reverse its negative same-store sales trend;
competitive pressures and other third party actions, including pressures from
pricing and other promotional activities of competitors, as well as new
competitive store openings; the resolution of allowed claims for which Kmart
is obligated to pay cash under the Plan of Reorganization; Kmart's ability to
properly monitor its inventory needs in order to timely acquire desired goods
in appropriate quantities and/or fulfill labor needs at planned costs; Kmart's
ability to attract and retain customers; Kmart's ability to maintain normal
terms with vendors and service providers; Kmart's ability to maintain
contracts, including leases, that are critical to its operations; Kmart's
ability to develop a market niche; regulatory and legal developments; general
economic conditions; weather conditions, including those which affect buying
patterns of Kmart's customers; and other factors affecting business beyond
Kmart's control; Kmart's ability to attract, motivate and/or retain key
executives and associates; and other risks detailed in Kmart's Securities and
Exchange Commission filings. Kmart undertakes no obligation to release
publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date such statements were made.
About Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is a leading provider of original
how-to information that turns dreamers into doers, inspiring and engaging
consumers with unique content and high-quality products for the home. MSO's
creative experts develop content within eight core areas -- Home, Cooking and
Entertaining, Gardening, Crafts, Holiday, Keeping, Weddings, and Baby and Kids
-- that provide consumers with ideas and products to celebrate their homes and
the domestic arts. MSO is organized into four business segments: Publishing,
Television, Merchandising, and Internet/Direct Commerce.
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements are not historical facts and can be
identified by the use of terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could",
"expects," "plans," and "intends." The Company's actual results may differ
materially from those projected in these statements, and factors that could
cause such differences include further adverse reaction to the prolonged and
continued negative publicity relating to Martha Stewart by consumers,
advertisers and business partners; a loss of the services, or diminution in
the reputation, of Ms. Stewart; further adverse reaction by the Company's
consumers, advertisers and business partners to the uncertainty relating to
the nature of the resolution of the criminal and civil proceedings currently
underway against Ms. Stewart concerning a sale of non-Company stock by Ms.
Stewart and any adverse resolution of such proceedings; adverse resolution of
some or all of the Company's ongoing litigation; any loss of the services of
the Company's key personnel; downturns in national and/or local economies;
shifts in our business strategies; a softening of the domestic advertising
market; changes in consumer reading, purchasing and/or television viewing
patterns; unanticipated increases in paper, postage or printing costs;
operational or financial problems at any of our contractual business partners;
the receptivity of consumers to our new product introductions; and changes in
government regulations affecting the Company's industries. Certain of these
and other factors are discussed in more detail in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially under the heading
"Management's Discussion and Analysis", which may be accessed through the
SEC's World Wide Web site at http://www.sec.gov . The Company is under no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this
release.
