Friedman's
                          The Value Leader Since 1920

                      171 Crossroads Parkway
                            Savannah, Georgia 31422

For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Sue Tremblay                    Jane D'Arcy
Trion Communications            Trion Communications
(401) 453-3100 ext. 110         (401) 453-3100 ext. 104
jdarcy@trioncom.com             stremblay@trioncom.com

        FRIEDMAN'S ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM AND BOARD
                                       ---
               Board Elects Jamie King as Audit Committee Chairman
        Names Eric Kovats as Executive Vice President in Charge of Stores

SAVANNAH, GA (July 13, 2004) - Friedman's Inc. (OTC non-BB: FRDM), the value
leader in fine jewelry retailing, today announced the most recent changes to its
senior management team and Board of Directors: Jamie King has been elected to
the Board of Directors and will serve as Audit Committee Chairman and Eric
Kovats has joined Friedman's as Executive Vice President of Stores. These
additions are the latest in a series of changes that began in early May of this
year when the company revamped its Board and continued in June with the addition
of a new CEO and a new Chief Administrative Officer. With these additions,
Friedman's continues to aggressively set in place new leadership, both at the
board and executive levels.

"I believe we are extremely fortunate that Jamie agreed to serve on our Board as
well as chair our Audit Committee," said Friedman's Chairman Allan Edwards.
"Jamie brings not only financial expertise, but also a practical business
executive's perspective."

Since 1988, Ms. King has served as Chairman and CEO of Crowe Manufacturing
Services in Dayton Ohio. Prior to joining Crowe, King spent eight years with
Ernst & Young's audit practice. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees
and the Board of Directors for the Dayton Development Coalition.

"I came to Friedman's with a clear understanding of what needs to happen to get
this company on an aggressive path to success," said Sam Cusano, CEO of
Friedman's. "We are moving quickly to put together a talented leadership team
whose skill sets match the needs of the Company."

Eric Kovats is a retail management professional with over thirty years of
experience in the industry. His most recent position was Regional Vice President
of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. Prior to Jo-Ann Stores, Kovats was with Service
Merchandise for more than twenty-five years, ultimately working his way up to
Senior Vice President of the Stores Sales Organization.

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"Eric is an extremely effective leader and operator with strong communication
and execution skills," said Cusano. "He knows how to motivate the team and get
the job done. I look forward to working with him."

Friedman's also announced today that Senior Vice President of Merchandising
Steve Lang has resigned to pursue other opportunities.

About Friedman's

Founded in 1920, Friedman's Inc. is a leading specialty retailer based in
Savannah, Georgia. The Company is the leading operator of fine jewelry stores
located in power strip centers and regional malls. For more information, go to:
www.friedmans.com.
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Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those
anticipating future financial performance, business prospects, growth and
operating strategies and similar matters, are forward-looking statements that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the
protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and a variety of factors
could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the
anticipated or expected results expressed in these forward-looking statements.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements, the Company's
liquidity, capital resources, and results of operations are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the following: the
ability of the Company to comply with the terms of its credit facility;
potential adverse developments with respect to the Company's liquidity and/or
results of operations; competitive pressures from other retailers; trends in the
economy as a whole which may affect consumer confidence and consumer demand for
the types of goods sold by the Company; the ability of the Company to attract,
retain and compensate key executives and associates; the ability of the Company
to attract and retain customers; potential adverse publicity; the ability of the
company to achieve the cost savings and operational benefits projected from its
planned store closings; the final results of the audit including the review of
the calculation of our allowance for doubtful accounts; the results of the SEC
and Justice Department investigations; the results of various litigation; the
effect of the restatement on our credit facilities, including funding
availability there under and our relationship with our lenders; the effect of
the restatement on our future earnings, including any adjustments to previously
announced earnings forecasts; and other risk factors identified from time to
time in our SEC reports, including, but not limited to, the report on Form 10-K
for the year ended September 28, 2002.

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