Destination Maternity Corporation Expands International Reach With Israel Franchise

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Destination Maternity Corporation (NASDAQ: DEST), the world's leading maternity apparel retailer, today announced it will expand into Israel through an international franchise agreement with H&O Fashion Ltd. (H&O), one of Israel's largest and dominant fashion-retail chains.  Through this relationship, Destination Maternity will introduce its Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod®, and Destination Maternity® brands into Israel, with the first franchise locations expected to open in Spring 2015.  Destination Maternity brands will be sold through both shop-in-shops in select H&O stores as well as freestanding Destination Maternity stores.

H&O operates 45 stores in Israel under the H&O, Carters, and OshKosh brand names.  Under this multi-year agreement, Destination Maternity has granted to H&O the exclusive right to operate branded retail locations and market merchandise under the Company's Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod, and Destination Maternity brands in Israel. 

Tony Romano, Chief Executive Officer of Destination Maternity commented, "We are excited to announce our expansion into Israel with a market-leading retailer like H&O who can help us bring the Destination Maternity experience of great fashion and exceptional service to expecting moms throughout Israel.  Working closely with H&O, we look forward to serving moms-to-be in Israel like no other maternity apparel retailer can." 

"Destination Maternity is an exciting and important addition to our brand portfolio," said Ami Sagis, H&O Chairman.  "We welcome the opportunity to partner with Destination Maternity to bring its brands, spirited designs, know-how, and exciting retail format to our customers.  We believe that through this partnership we can be the leader in maternity apparel in Israel by leveraging our respective strengths and shared ambitions for sustained growth in our market."

About Destination Maternity Corporation
Destination Maternity Corporation is the world's largest designer and retailer of maternity apparel.  In the United States and Canada, as of September 30, 2014, Destination Maternity operates 1,894 retail locations, including 568 stores, predominantly under the tradenames Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod®, and Destination Maternity®, and 1,326 leased department locations, and sells on the web through its DestinationMaternity.com and brand-specific websites.  Destination Maternity also distributes its Oh Baby by Motherhood® collection through a licensed arrangement at Kohl's® stores throughout the United States and on Kohls.com.  In addition, Destination Maternity has international store franchise and product supply relationships in the Middle East, South Korea and Mexico.  As of September 30, 2014, Destination Maternity has 78 international franchised locations, including 19 Destination Maternity branded stores and 59 shop-in-shop locations. 

About H&O
Founded in 1994, H&O is one of Israel's largest and dominant fashion-retail chains, employs more than 1,200 people and operates 45 stores countrywide (total of 40,000 sqm/430,000 sqft).  H&O designs, manufactures and sells a full range of international brands, such as: Nike, Carter`s, OshKosh, Air Jordan, Converse, Adidas, Champion, Levi`s, Lee, Wrangler, Triumph, L`Oreal Paris etc.  H&O operates one of the largest apparel loyalty programs in Israel and partnership with Israel's leading credit card company.  H&O is a privately owned company, fully owned by Avraham Livnat Ltd. – a leading private family holding and investment group owned by the Livnat family.  Amongst the Livnat family holdings are: Taavura group - Israel's largest road haulage and logistics company; financial investments and additional privately owned companies in the following sectors: retail, agriculture, logistics, gas and oil, real estate, cosmetics etc.

The Company cautions that any forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or made from time to time by management of the Company, including those regarding international expansion and various business initiatives, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors.  The following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect the Company's financial performance and actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements: the continuation of the economic recovery of the retail industry in general and of apparel purchases in particular, our ability to successfully manage our various business initiatives, our ability to successfully pursue, complete and manage any acquisitions and related matters, adverse effects on the market price of our common stock and on our operating results because of a failure to complete any proposed acquisition, failure to realize any benefits of any  proposed acquisition, the success of our international business and its expansion, our ability to successfully manage and retain our leased department and licensed relationships and marketing partnerships, future sales trends in our existing retail locations and through the Internet, unusual weather patterns, changes in consumer spending patterns, raw material price increases, overall economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer confidence, demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for apparel, expense savings initiatives, our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends and consumer preferences, unanticipated fluctuations in our operating results, the impact of competition and fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products, availability of suitable store locations, continued availability of capital and financing, our ability to hire and develop senior management and sales associates, our ability to develop and source merchandise, our ability to receive production from foreign sources on a timely basis, potential stock repurchases, our ability to continue our regular quarterly cash dividend, the trading liquidity of our common stock, changes in market interest rates, our ability to successfully manage and accomplish our planned relocations of our headquarters and distribution operations with minimal disruption to our overall operations, war or acts of terrorism and other factors set forth in the Company's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), or in materials incorporated therein by reference. Although it is believed that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct and persons reading this announcement are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this announcement (whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise), except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Destination Maternity Corporation

Related Links

http://www.destinationmaternity.com

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