Angelica Announces Acquisition of Two Facilities in Texas from National Linen.

ST. LOUIS -- Angelica Corporation (NYSE:AGL), a leading provider of healthcare linen management services, announced today that it has signed an agreement to purchase the laundry operations and customer contracts of National Linen and Uniform Service's Dallas, TX and Wichita Falls, TX facilities. The acquired business, which includes the Wichita Falls satellite operations in Oklahoma City, OK, represents approximately $18 million in annual revenues. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Angelica expects to close the transaction in the next 30 days.

Commenting on the acquisition, Steve O'Hara, Angelica's President and CEO, noted, "We are delighted to add the operations in Dallas and Wichita Falls and their customers to the Angelica family. With our existing plants in Dallas and Houston, the addition of these two facilities provides expanded coverage of Texas, as well as entry into the Oklahoma marketplace."

Mr. O'Hara added, "As the leading linen supplier to the healthcare industry we will continue to evaluate other growth opportunities in the United States and we expect to announce additional acquisitions in the near future."

Angelica will be presenting at the ICR Exchange analyst conference in Carlsbad, CA on January 13, 2005. For more information on this conference, you can contact John Mills of ICR at [phone]. The Angelica investor presentation will be web cast live at www.angelica.com on January 13, 2005.

Angelica Corporation, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AGL, is a leading provider of linen management services to the U.S. healthcare market.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any forward-looking statements made in this document reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competitive and general economic conditions, the ability to retain current customers and to add new customers in competitive market environments, competitive pricing in the marketplace, delays in the shipment of orders, availability of labor at appropriate rates, availability and cost of energy and water supplies, the cost of workers' compensation and healthcare benefits, the ability to attract and retain key personnel, the ability of the Company to recover its seller note and avoid future lease obligations as part of its sale of Life Uniform, the ability of the Company to accomplish its strategy of redirecting its resources to its healthcare linen management business in a timely and financially advantageous manner, unusual or unexpected cash needs for operations or capital transactions, the effectiveness of certain expense reduction initiatives, the ability to obtain financing in required amounts and at appropriate rates and terms, the ability to identify, negotiate, fund, consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other factors which may be identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.