EXHIBIT 99

             IMPORTANT FACTORS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The following  factors,  among others,  could cause the Company's actual results
and performance to differ  materially  from those  contained in  forward-looking
statements  made in this report and  presented  elsewhere by or on behalf of the
Company from time to time.

Ability to Achieve Future Growth

The Company's ability to profitably open stores in accordance with its expansion
plan and to increase the financial  performance of its existing stores will be a
significant  factor  in  achieving  future  growth.  The  Company's  ability  to
profitably  open stores will depend,  in part, on matters not completely  within
the Company's  control  including,  among other  things,  locating and obtaining
store  sites that meet the  Company's  economic,  demographic,  competitive  and
financial  criteria,  and the  availability  of  capital  on  acceptable  terms.
Further,  increases  in  comparable  store sales will  depend,  in part,  on the
soundness and successful execution of the Company's merchandising strategy.

Seasonality

The Company is an agricultural  specialty  retailer,  and consequently its sales
fluctuate with the seasonal  needs of the  agricultural  community.  The Company
responds to this  seasonality by attempting to manage  inventory levels (and the
associated working capital requirements) to meet expected demand, and by varying
to a degree its use of part-time  employees.  Historically,  the Company's sales
and operating  income have been highest in the third quarter of each fiscal year
due to the farming industry's planting season and the sale of seasonal products.

Weather, Business Conditions and Government Policy

Unseasonable  weather and excessive rain,  drought,  or early or late frosts may
affect the Company's  sales and  operating  income.  In addition,  the Company's
sales volume and income from operations depend  significantly  upon expectations
and economic conditions relevant to consumer spending and the farm economy.

Regional Economy

The majority of the Company's  existing  stores are located in the  Northeastern
United States, the Midwestern United States and the Southeastern  United States.
As a result,  the Company's sales and profitability are largely dependent on the
general strength of the economy in these regions.

Competition

The  Company  faces  competition  primarily  from other  chain and  single-store
agricultural  specialty  retailers,  and from mass merchandisers.  Some of these
competitors have  substantially  greater  financial and other resources than the
Company.

Currently,  most of the Company's  stores do not compete directly in the markets
of other agricultural specialty retail chains.  However, the Company's expansion
plans will  likely  result in new  stores  being  located  in markets  currently
serviced  by one or more of these  chains,  and there can be no  assurance  that
these chains,  certain of which have announced  expansion plans, will not expand
into the Company's markets.

In  addition,  the  Company  competes  in over  half of its  markets  with  mass
merchandisers.  The  Company  believes  that its  merchandise  mix and  level of
customer   service   currently   successfully   differentiate   it   from   mass
merchandisers,  and  that  as  a  result  the  Company  has  to  date  not  been
significantly  impacted by competition from mass merchandisers.  However, in the
past certain mass  merchandisers  have modified  their product mix and marketing
strategies  in an effort  apparently  intended  to permit  them to compete  more
effectively in the Company's  markets,  and it is likely that these efforts will
continue by these and other mass merchandisers.