Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and Bernhardt Furniture Company Expand Martha Stewart Signature(TM) Furniture Line

    NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Based on the 2003 success of
 Martha Stewart Signature Furniture with Bernhardt, Martha Stewart Living
 Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO) and Bernhardt Furniture Company today announced a major
 expansion of the brand label at the International Home Furnishings Market in
 High Point, North Carolina. The two partners will be introducing 67 new SKUs
 to the existing Lily Pond collection and upholstered goods assortment of
 Martha Stewart Signature Furniture with Bernhardt, representing a 26%
 expansion of the Martha Stewart Signature furniture line. The introductions
 will be available to customers at furniture retailers nationwide in October
 2004.
     "Customers have been very receptive to Martha Stewart Signature's eclectic
 assortment of furnishings available through the Lily Pond(R), Skylands(TM),
 and Turkey Hill(TM) Collections," said Alex Bernhardt, Sr., Chairman and Chief
 Executive Officer of Bernhardt Furniture. "Martha Stewart Signature Furniture
 with Bernhardt continues to offer fresh ideas with a twist on the traditional.
 The newest introductions to the Lily Pond collection further illustrate this
 fresh but timeless point of view, brought home by the brand's focus on
 proportion, scale, and color."
     There are 36 case goods additions to Lily Pond, a collection inspired by
 Martha's shingle-style, light-filled coastal home on the eastern end of Long
 Island. One bedroom, one dining room, and four occasional groups offer
 customers an extensive range of design options for modern, casual living, from
 the great room to the kitchen to the bedroom. The expanded assortment includes
 new finishes, such as Antiqued Alder, and intricate design details including
 delicate marquetry, which are unique design elements new to the Martha Stewart
 Signature Furniture with Bernhardt line.
     The 31 new upholstered goods, available in 30 fabric options ranging in
 style and formality, include five sofas and four chairs. Among the refreshing
 new designs are the Rexford Sofa, the line's first sectional, available in a
 stylish yet practical microsuede -- an ideal fabric option for a lively
 household-and the Hollis Armchair, which features a rattan frame and vibrant
 striped upholstery, for a casual, natural addition to any home.  With the
 expanded upholstered goods assortment, Martha Stewart Signature(TM) Furniture
 with Bernhardt now offers 122 upholstered pieces, enabling consumers to find
 the appropriate seating options for their home, regardless of their space and
 design needs.
     "The ongoing success and expansion of the Martha Stewart Signature
 programs underscore the continuing high approval marks and satisfaction among
 our consumers for our high-quality, stylish, and affordable products for which
 the brand stands. In fact, the vast majority of our consumers continue to say
 that Martha Stewart Signature Furniture with Bernhardt stands for products
 they can trust," said Sharon Patrick, President and CEO. "Martha Stewart
 Signature Furniture with Bernhardt is yet another solid example of MSO's
 continued evolution from expert personality to quality products to trusted
 brand labels."
     "I'm enormously proud of our newest product designs and I congratulate the
 product design, development, and merchandising team directed by Gael Towey,
 SEVP and Creative Director, and Alex Bates, SVP and Executive Creative
 Director of Product Design, in collaboration with Elise Contarsy, EVP of
 Retail Merchandising, and Bernhardt President Lewis Norman and Vice President
 John Pullin.  Together, they have created a wider assortment of products,
 offering our customers additional beautiful, practical, and affordable
 decorating possibilities that work for every room in the home," stated Martha
 Stewart, Founding Editorial Director. "The hallmarks of our Signature
 collections -- sensible proportions, creative use of color, distinctive
 finishes, and carefully designed details -- are present in these wonderful new
 pieces that continue to evolve our contemporary approach to classic and
 traditional furniture design for the modern homemaker."
 
     Martha Stewart Signature Furniture with Bernhardt offers three
 collections -- Lily Pond, Skylands, and Turkey Hill -- and now includes
 322 SKUs of furniture for every room in the house.  These collections reflect
 MSO's trademark quality, as seen in the details and proportions of the
 furniture, affordability, home decorating style, and color palettes that
 consumers desire, coupled with the manufacturing and distribution strengths of
 Bernhardt Furniture.  Each collection reflects a character of its own, with
 vibrant colors, unique hardware, a wide variety of finishes, and numerous
 useful and sensibly proportioned upholstered pieces. Customers can incorporate
 pieces from all three collections to create a personal style that is beautiful
 and unique.
     The Martha Stewart Signature(TM) brand, which also includes paints,
 decorative fabrics, and flooring, is distinguished by fine-quality materials,
 distinctive textures, and beautiful colors, as well as by affordability and
 style.  Designed to work together, these products provide customers with a
 total-room/total-home decorating solution.
     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.
 
     The Bernhardt family has been crafting fine furniture since 1889.  Located
 in western North Carolina, the company produces a broad line of custom-built
 upholstered furniture in both contemporary and classic traditional styles, as
 well as quality wood furniture for dining room, living room, and bedroom-all
 at an unmatched value in the marketplace.
 
 

SOURCE  Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia