Q2 2003 United Retail Earnings Conference Call - Final.

Original Source: FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE

OPERATOR: Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to United Retail Group's Second Quarter Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards you will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session. At that time if you have any questions, you will need to press the "1" followed by the "#" key on your touchtone phone. Furthermore ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference call, Ms. Cara O'Brien of FD Morgan-Walke. Please go ahead ma'am.

CARA O'BRIEN, FD MORGAN-WALKE: Thank you operator. Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining the United Retail Group conference call. If you have not received a copy of the press release, please call our offices at 212-850-5600 and we will send one out to you immediately. With us on the line this morning are Raphael Benaroya, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer; and George Remeta, Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer. Before we begin, however, I would like to remind everyone that this conference call will contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's operations and performance. The Company cautions that any forward-looking statements are summary in nature, involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various important factors, many of which maybe beyond the Company's control. Accordingly, the Company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such statement. The following factors among others in some cases have affected the Company's actual results and could cause actual results for the fiscal 2000 year and beyond to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any statements included in this call. These include war risks, changes in consumer spending pattern, consumer preferences and overall economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, changes in weather pattern, increases in postal rates and paper and printing costs, risks associated with the seasonality of the retail industry, risks related to consumer acceptance of the Company's products and the ability to develop new merchandise, the ability to retain, hire, and train key personnel, risks associated with the ability of the Company's manufacturers to deliver products in a timely manner, risks associated with foreign sources of production and availability of suitable store locations on appropriate terms. The reports filed by the Company with the SEC contain additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Company's operations and performance. The Company does not intend to update the forward-looking statements contained in this call, which should not be relied upon as current after today's date. Now I would like to turn the call over Mr. Raphael Benaroya, who joins us from a business trip out of town. Raphael, please go ahead.

RAPHAEL BENAROYA, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNITED RETAIL GROUP INC.: Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us to review our second quarter operating results. I will begin with an overview of an improved performance for the quarter, then I will briefly discuss market condition and provide an update on the progress we're making on the initiatives we discussed during the last …