NEWS RELEASE

Company Contact
Lynn Whitehead
lwhitehead@roostergroup.com
210-651-5288

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -March 28, 2005 - The Rooster® Group (Rooster®), manufacturer and distributor of American Work Products™ (AWP®) work gear, announced today it has earned Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Supplier of the Year Award for 2004 in the Tools category.

Lowe's, the 10th largest retailer in the U.S., selected Rooster® for this prestigious honor based upon a stringent list of criteria including producing and providing high quality products that represent genuine value in the market place; demonstrating responsible environmental stewardship and practices; achieving line item fill rates of 98% or higher (Rooster® achieved 100% fill rate for all new stores), contributing to growth by providing excellent product performance that reflects exceptional sales and profit; extraordinary service; and leadership and innovation in its merchandising and marketing programs. In addition to meeting and exceeding the above criteria, Rooster® also introduced twelve new items over the course of the year and designed and implemented a new color-coded merchandising scheme unparalleled in its market sector.

"At The Rooster® Group, we take great pride in manufacturing the highest quality and most innovative products for our market and in providing excellent customer service to all our retail and consumer partners," said Juan Pablo Cabrera, chief executive officer and founder of The Rooster® Group. "This acknowledgement by Lowe's is a great honor, and we are proud to have been selected from among the many thousands of vendors that serve Lowe's customers."

About The Rooster® Group:
With a product line that currently includes leather and synthetic tool aprons and tool holders, knee pads, work gloves, soft-sided tool bags, cotton aprons, plastic storage systems, suspenders and back support belts for carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other workers, The Rooster®Group is the industry leader for quality and innovation in the work gear market. Rooster® also partners with and provides custom-designed products to hundreds of retail companies to sell under their own labels. For more information, please visit www.roostergroup.com.

About Lowe's:
With fiscal year 2004 sales of $36.5 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE® 50 company that serves approximately 11 million customers a week at more than 1,075 home improvement stores in 48 states. Based in Mooresville, N.C., the 59-year old company is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit www.Lowes.com.