STOCKMANN’S RIGA DEPARTMENT STORE TO BE

STOCKMANN plc PRESS RELEASE October 16, 2003, 14.00 p.m.

STOCKMANN’S RIGA DEPARTMENT STORE TO BE OPENED TOMORROW

Stockmann will open a new department store in the centre of Riga, the
capital of Latvia, tomorrow morning, October 17, at 9.00.

The department store is part of a joint project of Stockmann plc and
Rautakirja Oyj which comprises a new six-storey building with a total
floor area of about 32,000 square metres. The fourth Seppälä store in
Latvia, restaurants and other ancillary services will be opened in the
building. Rautakirja’s part of the project is a 14-theatre cinema complex,
which will be opened on October 31, 2003.

The department store and cinema building is located downtown on a plot of
land owned by Riga City, in the address 13. janvara iela 8, right next to
the central railway station. Construction works were started in early
spring 2002. The site was designed by the Latvian architects’ office
Postform Projekts in cooperation with the Finnish architects’ office
Arkkitehtikonttori Petri Pussinen Oy. The main contractor has been SIA
J.O.Z PEAB Group. Stockmann’s share of the capital expenditure is
approximately EUR 24 million.

Stockmann’s subsidiary Hobby Hall has mail order operations in Latvia but
for the Stockmann department stores, this is a breakthrough into new
territory. The sales area of the Riga department store is 11,000 square
metres. The building complex also comprises a car park and is linked to
the adjacent parking facility by an underground tunnel. As a result,
customers have about 450 parking spaces at their disposal.

The department store employs approximately 400 people. Almost the entire
personnel consists of Latvian citizens. In addition to the director, Harri
Saarto, there are a few Finnish nationals in the department store
administration as well as a couple of Estonian nationals who have gathered
experience in Stockmann’s Tallinn department store. Also Mr Saarto
transferred to Riga from Tallinn where he earlier acted as the director of
Stockmann’s department store.

This centrally located Stockmann department store in Riga is expected to
be a success – it will be Riga’s first full-scale department store in the
heart of the city. Sales of the first full year of operation are estimated
to total around EUR 40 million.

For further information, please contact:
Jukka Hienonen, Executive Vice President of the Stockmann Group, Director
of Stockmann’s Department Store Division, tel. +358 50 388 9670.

STOCKMANN plc

Hannu Penttilä
CEO

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