Catalogue arm of Neiman Marcus selects Comshare's Arthur Planning software; chosen for flexibility to adapt to the unique needs of catalogue retailer.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 1995--Comshare, Incorporated, The Decision Support Company, today announced that NM Direct has selected Arthur Planning software for its unique planning needs, and has become a customer of Comshare Retail, based in Wilmington, Delaware, which markets and supports the Arthur family of applications that addresses the supply chain demands of retailers.

NM Direct has selected Arthur Planning software to plan and track its complete business cycle from catalogue planning to order shipping, with specific emphasis on the merchandise planning aspects of the business. NM Direct is the catalogue arm of the famed retail chain Neiman Marcus, and is a division of The Neiman Marcus Group. NM Direct mails over 75 catalogue issues throughout the year under the brand names of Neiman Marcus, Horchow, and Trifles. With headquarters in Irving, Texas, NM Direct operates a 24-hour, 7-day a week telemarketing center, and a 500,000 square foot distribution center.

"Arthur was selected because it demonstrated the flexibility to adapt to the unique needs of a catalogue retailer, and its deployment on state-of-the-art client/server platforms," said Bernie Feiwus, President of NM Direct. "Unlike many other products that provide excellent tools to construct a business application, Arthur offers a ready-built application `shell' to house the business variables and rules particular to NM Direct's needs. Comshare's extensive software and consulting experience in the retail industry provided NM Direct with the confidence that it was selecting a highly qualified partner."

Comshare Retail is the leader in decision support applications for merchandise planning, and markets and supports Arthur applications ranging from merchandise planning and micro-market assortment development to sales performance tracking and exception analysis that enable retailers to effectively plan, allocate and track merchandise across the retail enterprise, regardless of location or number of stores. NM Direct has joined a broad base of over 350 retailers, including Kinney, Meldisco, Boscov's, Ernst Home Centers, Sherwin-Williams, J. Baker, British Shoe, Gantos, Pier One, Tiffany and Barney's that are using Arthur applications to maximize productivity and product profitability along with continual streamlining of the supply chain processes.

A market leading decision support company, Comshare, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: CSRE) develops and markets decision support planning, analysis and reporting applications used by managers and executives to improve their productivity, decision making and competitiveness in managing their business operations. Within the decision support software category, Comshare focuses on three major markets -- On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) applications, which includes customized Executive Information Systems (EIS); Financial Reporting Applications; and Retail Decision Support Applications. One of the top 50 independent software companies, Comshare has approximately 3,000 customers worldwide, many of which are Fortune 1000 and Financial Times Top 1000 companies. -0-

Arthur is a trademark of Comshare, Incorporated. Any other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Comshare Retail

Tom Redd, 302/479-2654

or

Comshare, Inc.

Ricia Hughes, 313/769-6068