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     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         CONTACT:  Steven L. Shapiro
                                        VP - Controller
                                        (617) 830-4020
     
     
     
     
          GROSSMAN'S INC. ANNOUNCES REORGANIZATION TEAM
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     CANTON, Mass. (May 12, 1997) - Grossman's Inc. (Nasdaq-GROS)
     announced today that the Board of Directors has elected Thomas E.
     Arnold, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer on an interim
     basis, replacing Seymour Kroll, who resigned effective today.  Mr.
     Arnold, a current member of the Board and its Audit Committee,
     will also continue to fulfill the duties previously assigned to
     him by the Board as the person principally responsible for
     Grossman's reorganization effort and its related Chapter 11
     bankruptcy proceedings.
     
     Grossman's also announced that Dirck Iacobelli will assume the
     responsibilities of Acting Executive Vice President, Chief
     Financial Officer.  Thomas A. Ford, who is Executive Vice-
     President, Chief Operating Officer, and President-Bargain Outlet
     Division, will now have overall responsibility for the
     Contractors' Warehouse Division (Midwest and Western Region),
     along with the Bargain Outlet Division.  Mr. Ford has been
     recently concentrating his efforts on the Bargain Outlet Division. 
     Both Mr. Iacobelli and Mr. Ford will report directly to Mr.
     Arnold.
     
     Mr. Arnold, 52, has extensive experience working with financially
     distressed companies.  He recently served as Chairman, Board of
     Trustees, of three separate trusts responsible for the orderly
     management and disposition of over $1 billion in assets of
     Executive Life Insurance Company.  Mr. Arnold also served as 
     
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     court-appointed Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and
     President of American Continental Corporation, formerly one of the
     largest public finance-related real estate development companies. 
     Mr. Arnold was appointed following the resignation of Charles
     Keating in conformance with the confirmed Plan of Reorganization
     in the American Continental case.
     
     Mr. Iacobelli, 48, has been a financial consultant to troubled
     companies since 1986 and has worked closely with Mr. Arnold on a
     number of assignments, including Executive Life Insurance Company
     and American Continental Corporation matters.  Mr. Iacobelli, who
     holds an MBA from Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College, has on
     many occasions acted as chief financial officer (whether so
     formally denominated or not) in engagements where the companies
     were restructuring and, in many cases, disposing of assets.
     
     Mr. Ford, 40, has been with Grossman's his entire 23 year career. 
     He has held positions of authority at all levels of operations,
     including district manager, regional manager, director of store
     operations, and Vice-President and General Manager of the Bargain
     Outlet Division.
     
     Robert K. Swanson, Chairman of the Board of Grossman's, stated,
     "The Board is pleased that Tom Arnold has agreed to assume the
     positions of President and CEO.  He brings the skills necessary to
     work effectively with Tom Ford in operations and Dirck Iacobelli
     on the financial side.  We have now assembled an excellent team to
     work through the problems of the bankruptcy and towards a
     reorganization."
     
     Grossman's Inc. operates 15 stores under the name Contractors'
     Warehouse in California, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, and 28 stores
     under the name Mr. 2nd's Bargain Outlet in Massachusetts, New York
     and Rhode Island.
     
     Statements contained in this release that are not based on
     historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the
     meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  
     
     
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     Important factors, beyond the company's control, that could cause
     actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-
     looking statements include, but are not limited to, the need for
     approvals by the Bankruptcy Court, competition, stability of
     customer demand, and the sufficiency of its capital resources. 
     Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking
     statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.  The company
     undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to these
     forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
     after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
     unanticipated events.
     
     Grossman's Inc. press releases and public filings can be accessed
     on the Internet through Business Wire's Home Page:
     http://www.businesswire.com/cnn/gros.htm
     
     Mr. 2nd's Bargain Outlet maintains a web site for product
     information, store locations and feedback:
     http://www.bargain-outlets.com
     
     
     
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