The Gymboree Corporation Reports August Sales

The Gymboree Corporation Reports August Sales

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Gymboree Corporation (NASDAQ:GYMB) reported net sales from retail operations for the four-week period ended August 27, 2005, of $44.1 million, an increase of 3% compared to net sales from continuing retail operations of $42.7 million for the same four-week period last year. Comparable store sales for the four-week period decreased 1% compared to a 3% decrease in comparable store sales for the same period last year.

The Company continues to expect that comparable store sales for the third quarter will be flat to slightly positive compared to the prior year.

The Company also announced that it had a very successful opening of its first Gymboree outlet during the last week of the month and plans to open six additional outlet stores during September.

"We are pleased with the sales performance for the month," said Lisa Harper, Chairman and CEO. "In an effort to optimize our productivity, we have shifted the timing of some promotions to later in the quarter. We are on track to meet the goals we have set for the quarter and, more importantly, we are starting to see the benefit of lower product costs in gross margins."

The Company reiterated its guidance for earnings from continuing operations for the third and fourth fiscal quarters of 2005 to be in the range of $0.20 to $0.22 and $0.30 to $0.33 per diluted share, respectively. For the full fiscal year 2005, the Company continues to anticipate its earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.55 to $0.60 per diluted share.

Management Presentations

For more information about August sales, please listen to The Gymboree Corporation's monthly sales recording by calling the Company's Investor Relations Hotline at 415-278-7933. The recording will be available Thursday, September 1 at 7:55 a.m. ET through Wednesday, September 7 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

About The Gymboree Corporation

The Gymboree Corporation's specialty retail brands offer unique, high- quality products delivered with personalized customer service. As of August 27, 2005, the Company operated a total of 648 stores: 572 Gymboree(R) retail stores (544 in the United States and 28 in Canada), 60 Janie and Jack(R) retail shops and 16 Janeville(R) stores in the United States. The Company also operates online stores at http://www.gymboree.com/ and http://www.janieandjack.com/, and offers directed parent-child developmental play programs at 515 franchised and company-operated centers in the United States and 23 other countries.

Forward-Looking Statements

The foregoing sales figures for the four-week period ended August 27, 2005, are un-audited and subject to quarter-end and year-end adjustment, and could differ materially from the financial information indicated. The foregoing paragraphs contain forward-looking statements relating to The Gymboree Corporation's anticipated sales growth and future financial performance. These are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially as a result of a number of factors, including customer reactions to new merchandise, service levels and new concepts, success in meeting our delivery targets, the level of our promotional activity, unanticipated costs actually incurred in connection with the wind down of our UK and Ireland operations, our gross margin achievement, our ability to appropriately manage inventory, general economic conditions, effects of future embargos from countries used to source product, and competitive market conditions. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth in the reports that we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year-ended January 29, 2005. These forward-looking statements reflect The Gymboree Corporation's expectations as of September 1, 2005. The Gymboree Corporation undertakes no obligation to update the information provided herein.

Gymboree and Janie and Jack are registered trademarks of The Gymboree Corporation. Janeville is a trademark of The Gymboree Corporation.

Source: The Gymboree Corporation

CONTACT: Investor Relations: Blair W. Lambert, +1-415-278-7933,
investor_relations@gymboree.com, or Media Relations: Kimberly Kim,
+1-415-278-7472, media_relations@gymboree.com, both of Gymboree

Web site: http://www.gymboree.com/
http://www.janieandjack.com/

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