FORT MYERS, Fla., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chico's FAS, Inc.
(NYSE: CHS) announced today it has purchased approximately 22 acres of
property adjacent to the Company's current headquarters site on Metro Parkway
in Fort Myers, Florida to serve as the base for expansion of the Company's
corporate headquarters operations. The property includes seven existing
buildings aggregating approximately 200,600 square feet of space, most of
which is leased to unrelated third parties. The acquisition cost for this
property, along with the buildings, totaled approximately $25.6 million, which
includes all transaction costs. The acquisition was funded from the company's
existing cash and marketable securities balances.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/CHICOLOGO )
The Company had previously announced its acquisition of 105 undeveloped
acres in Lee County, Florida, which was intended to be used for the location
of a new headquarters campus. When the adjacent 22 acre property became
available, the Company decided to plan its expansion at its current location
and to hold the 105 acre property for investment and ultimate sale at the
opportune time.
In the meantime, the Company will proceed promptly to explore its
expansion options on the newly acquired adjacent site as well as on the
existing 35 acres that the Company already owns at that same location. The
Company believes that the costs associated with completing the expansion will
be significantly less than had the Company proceeded with building an entirely
new headquarters campus at the 105 acre site.
Scott A. Edmonds, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Although
we have decided not to utilize the 105 acre parcel to construct a new
headquarters facility, we are confident that our acquisition and utilization
of the adjacent properties should provide us with the additional space we will
need to support our growth for years to come. Expanding our headquarters
operations onto this adjacent property should allow a more phased approach to
the expansion, and should also prove to be less disruptive than if we were to
have moved our entire operations to a completely new headquarters campus. In
the meantime, we recognize that there are tenants in the buildings whose
businesses currently depend on the operating space. We expect to build a
strong relationship with those tenants, to be supportive as a landlord, and to
respect their rights as tenants."
The Company is a specialty retailer of private label, sophisticated,
casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates, complementary accessories, and other
non-clothing gift items. The Company operates 791 women's specialty stores,
including stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Puerto Rico operating under the Chico's, White House | Black
Market, Soma by Chico's and Fitigues names. The Company owns 507 Chico's
front-line stores, 31 Chico's outlet stores, 202 White House | Black Market
front-line stores, 8 White House | Black Market outlet stores, 18 Soma by
Chico's stores, 11 Fitigues front-line stores and 1 Fitigues outlet store;
franchisees own and operate 13 Chico's stores.
Certain statements contained herein, including without limitation,
statements addressing the beliefs, plans, objectives, estimates or
expectations of the Company or future results or events constitute "forward-
looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known
or unknown risks, including, but not limited to, general economic and business
conditions, and conditions in the specialty retail industry. There can be no
assurance that the actual future results, performance, or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur. Users of
forward-looking statements are encouraged to review the Company's latest
annual report on Form 10-K, its filings on Form 10-Q, management's discussion
and analysis in the Company's latest annual report to stockholders, the
Company's filings on Form 8-K, and other federal securities law filings for a
description of other important factors that may affect the Company's business,
results of operations and financial condition. The Company does not undertake
to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience
or future changes make it clear that projected results expressed or implied in
such statements will not be realized.
For more detailed information, please call (877) 424-4267 to listen to the
Company's monthly sales information and investor relations line
A copy of a slide show addressing the Company's recent financial results and
current plans for expansion is available on the Company's website at
http://www.chicos.com in the investor relations section
Additional investor information on Chico's FAS, Inc. is available free of
charge on the Company's website at http://www.chicos.com in the investor
relations section
Executive Contacts:
Charles J. Kleman F. Michael Smith
Chief Financial Officer Vice President
Chico's FAS, Inc. Investor and Community Relations
(239) 274-4105 Chico's FAS, Inc.
(239) 274-4797
SOURCE Chico's FAS, Inc.
-0- 04/20/2006
/CONTACT: Charles J. Kleman, Chief Financial Officer, +1-239-274-4105, or
F. Michael Smith, Vice President, Investor and Community Relations,
+1-239-274-4797, both of Chico's FAS, Inc./
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/CHICOLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, [email protected] /
/Web site: http://www.chicos.com /
(CHS)
CO: Chico's FAS, Inc.
ST: Florida
IN: REA FAS
SU: RLE FAS
AC-DS
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3302 04/20/2006 16:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com