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.