Elder-Beerman to Close Courthouse Plaza Store in Dayton, Ohio.

Business Editors

DAYTON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2002

The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. (Nasdaq:EBSC) will close its Courthouse Plaza department store located in downtown Dayton, Ohio on or about August 3, 2002. The building's landlord, CityWide Development Corp., plans to convert a substantial part of the building to office space.

Byron L. Bergren, president and chief executive officer, stated, "CityWide and Elder-Beerman attempted to negotiate terms that would allow Elder-Beerman to maintain a downtown presence but were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. The costs associated with conversion to a smaller space made it prohibitive to maintain our store in that location. Our Dayton customers are important to us and we look forward to serving our Courthouse Plaza customers in our other Dayton area locations."

Elder-Beerman has eight other store locations in the Dayton area -- Dayton Mall, Northwest, Fairfield Commons, Centerville, Kettering, Huber Heights, Southtown Furniture Gallery and Salem Furniture Gallery.

Elder-Beerman will attempt to transfer its 63 associates currently working at Courthouse Plaza to other positions in the area. Any associate not transferred will receive a severance package in accordance with company policy and industry standards.

The company expects to incur charges in connection with the closing.

The nation's ninth largest independent department store chain, The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio and operates 67 department stores in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Elder-Beerman also operates two furniture galleries. For more information about the company see Elder-Beerman's web site at www.elder-beerman.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," including predictions of future operating performance, events or developments such as our future sales, gross margins, profits, expenses, income and earnings per share. In addition, words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "hopes," and "estimates," and variations of such words and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Because forward-looking statements are based on a number of beliefs, estimates and assumptions by management that could ultimately prove inaccurate, there is no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate.

Many factors could materially affect our actual future operations and results. The national tragedy of September 11, 2001 and subsequent national security threats and warnings could magnify some of those factors. Factors that could materially affect performance include the following: increasing price and product competition; fluctuations in consumer demand and confidence, especially in light of current uncertain general economic conditions; the availability and mix of inventory; fluctuations in costs and expenses; consumer response to the Company's merchandising strategies, advertising, marketing and promotional programs; the effectiveness of management; the timing and effectiveness of new store openings, particularly its new concept stores opened in Fall Season of 2001 (DuBois, PA, Alliance, OH and Kohler, WI) and in Spring Season 2002 (Coldwater, MI); weather conditions that affect consumer traffic in stores; the continued availability and terms of bank and lease financing and trade credit; the outcome of pending and future litigation; consumer debt levels; the impact of any new consumer bankruptcy laws; inflation and interest rates and the condition of the capital markets.

Elder-Beerman undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.