Big Dog to Continue Expansion With $30 Million From Wells Fargo Retail Finance; Casual and Active Wear Retailer to Grow Operations in Select U.S. Markets With New Financing.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2001

Retail asset-based lender Wells Fargo Retail Finance, LLC, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), today announced that it will provide a $30 million line of credit to Big Dog Holdings Inc., a multi-channel retailer that markets popular-priced consumer products including active wear, casual sportswear, accessories and gifts.

With more than 200 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the Santa Barbara, California-based Big Dog is recognized as a leader in the retail apparel industry.

"Big Dog's continued growth and development as a pioneer in casual fashion will benefit greatly from the support and flexibility of Wells Fargo Retail Finance," said Andrew Feshbach, President & CEO of Big Dog Holdings. "As an organization on the forefront of the specialty retail industry, Big Dog recognizes the need for development and differentiation in the regional marketplace. A solid and successful lending relationship is critical for us to meet our aggressive growth goals and remain competitive."

"As one of the recognized leaders in the casual sportswear industry, Big Dogs is well-positioned to successfully grow their business," said Wells Fargo Retail Finance Senior Managing Director and COO Andrew H. Moser. "We are happy to provide them with the operating capital that will meet their desired results. We look forward to Big Dog's continued growth and success."

Big Dog has developed customer loyalty by consistently providing high-quality products and building their All-American, family-oriented brand. The Big Dog brand is strengthened by customers' personal identification with particular sports and other activities depicted on the apparel. Big Dog has grown its brand through dramatic expansion of its product line, and rapid growth in the number of retail stores, which have grown from five stores in 1993 to more than 200 today.

Wells Fargo Retail Finance LLC

Based in Boston with additional offices located in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, Wells Fargo Retail Finance, LLC brings more than 25 years of experience in providing working capital to retailers, and more than 150 years of collective experience as merchants, retail operators, and financial executives. Today, the company, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, has more than $1.9 billion in loan commitments to retailers throughout North America.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company with $290 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 5,400 stores and the Internet (www.wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally.