Helen of Troy Limited Announces Planned Construction of New Distribution Center

EL PASO, Texas, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ, NM:  HELE), designer, developer and worldwide marketer of brand-name household, personal care and healthcare/home environment consumer products, today announced that it will construct a new 1.3 million square foot distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi. 

Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Helen of Troy has entered into an agreement to purchase 84 acres of land in Olive Branch, Mississippi and entered into an agreement for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art 1,300,000 square foot distribution center on the purchased property.  Total estimated costs of the project, including land, construction costs, warehouse equipment and fixtures to be used in the distribution center, are approximately $37 million.  Helen of Troy expects to fund the project using a combination of cash from operations, long-term financing and the Company's existing revolving line of credit.  Helen of Troy expects the new distribution center will be ready for operation in the third fiscal quarter of fiscal 2014.

Helen of Troy currently owns and operates a 1,200,000 square foot distribution center in Southaven, Mississippi and leases approximately 700,000 square feet in Memphis, Tennessee.  Upon completion of the new facility, Helen of Troy will no longer lease the Memphis facility and will operate solely out of owned facilities.

Gerald J. Rubin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, commenting on the new distribution center project, stated, "We are very excited to start this project and are looking forward to the day when we can move into this new distribution center.  With the addition of this new 1.3 million square foot distribution center, Helen of Troy will have a total of 2.5 million square feet of owned and operated distribution capacity in DeSoto County, Mississippi.  This is a significant commitment for Helen of Troy and we will continue to benefit from the skilled workforce, logistics infrastructure and geographic attractiveness of DeSoto County.

"Helen of Troy's business operations have grown in recent years, and we expect our businesses to continue to grow, both organically and through acquisitions, in the future.  Over the next five years we hope to add more than 300 full-time employees to our operations in DeSoto County.

"With interest rates at record lows, it is a great time to make this type of investment in the future of Helen of Troy.  In addition, local agencies and governments, including the Mississippi Development Authority, the State of Mississippi, DeSoto County and the City of Olive Branch, provided us with incentives to enhance the attractiveness of this project," Rubin concluded.

"I am grateful to Helen of Troy for expanding its presence in Mississippi by constructing this new distribution facility.  The company's investment and the jobs it will create will have a significant impact on both the DeSoto County economy and the state as a whole," Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said.

About Helen of Troy Limited: Helen of Troy Limited is a leading global consumer products company offering creative solutions for its customers through a strong portfolio of well-recognized and widely-trusted brands, including: Housewares: OXO®, OXO Good Grips®, OXO Soft Works®, OXO tot® and OXO Steel®; Personal Care: Revlon®, Vidal Sassoon®, Dr. Scholl's®, Pro Beauty Tools®, Sure®, Pert Plus®, Infusium23®, Brut®, Ammens®, Hot Tools®, Bed Head®, Karina®, Ogilvie® and Gold 'N Hot®; and Healthcare/Home Environment: Vicks®, Braun®, Honeywell®, PUR®, Febreze®, Stinger®, Duracraft® and SoftHeat®. The Revlon® trademark is used under license from Revlon.  The Vidal Sassoon®, Vicks®, Braun® and Febreze® trademarks are used under license from The Procter & Gamble Company.  The Dr. Scholl's® trademark is used under license from Merck.  The Honeywell® trademark is used under license from Honeywell. The Bed Head® trademark is used under license from Unilever.

For more information, please visit www.hotus.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to change. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any or all of the forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many of these factors will be important in determining the Company's actual future results. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical or anticipated results. Generally, the words "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "expects", "plans", "may", "will", "should", "seeks", "project", "predict", "potential", "continue", "intends", and other similar words identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company intends its forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of such statements, and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release should be read in conjunction with, and are subject to and qualified by, the risks described in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended February 29, 2012 and in our other filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to refer to the risk factors referred to above for a description of these risks. Such risks include, among others, the departure and recruitment of key personnel, the Company's ability to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner, the Company's geographic concentration of certain U.S. distribution facilities, which  increases our exposure to significant shipping disruptions and added shipping and storage costs, the Company's projections of product demand, sales, net income and earnings per share are highly subjective and our future net sales revenue, net income and earnings per share could vary in a material amount from such projections, expectations regarding acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, the Company's relationship with key customers and licensors, the costs of complying with the business demands and requirements of large sophisticated customers, the Company's dependence on foreign sources of supply and foreign manufacturing, the impact of changing costs of raw materials and energy on cost of goods sold and certain operating expenses, circumstances that may contribute to future impairment of goodwill, intangible or other long-lived assets, the risks associated with the use of trademarks licensed from and to third parties, our dependence on the strength of retail economies and vulnerabilities to an economic downturn, the Company's ability to develop and introduce innovative new products to meet changing consumer preferences, disruptions in U.S., European and other international credit markets, exchange rate risks, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriations, and other risks associated with foreign operations, the Company's leverage and the constraints it may impose, the costs, complexity and challenges of upgrading and managing our global information systems, the risks associated with information security breaches, the risks associated with tax audits and related disputes with taxing authorities, potential changes in laws, including tax laws, and the Company's ability to continue to avoid classification as a controlled foreign corporation.

SOURCE Helen of Troy Limited