Zale Corporation — 2010

Executive Teams

• Theo Killion, Interim Chief Executive Officer

• Matthew W. Appel, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
• Gilbert P. Hollander, Executive Vice President, Chief Sourcing and Supply Chain
Officer
• Richard A. Lennox, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

Board of Directors

• Yuval Braverman
• Richard C. Breeden
• James M. Cotter
• John B. Lowe, Jr.
• Thomas C. Shull
• Charles M. Sonsteby
• David M. Szymanski

About Zale Corporation

For nearly 90 years, Zale Corporation has provided extraordinary ways to say "I love
you." As a leading specialty retailer in North America, the Zale family of brands provides
our customers with fine jewelry, watches and gift items that offer great value at more
than 1,930 locations throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and online at
www.zales.com and www.gordonsjewelers.com. With an exceptional assortment of
jewelry and gifts, including diamonds and an exclusive wedding collection, our brands
are famous for helping turn important milestones and celebrations into priceless, life-long
memories.

The Zale Corporation

Story
From a single Zales Jewelers store in 1924, to six
retail brands with approximately 1,900 stores
throughout North America and online at
www.zales.com and www.gordonsjewelers.com,
Zale Corporation has stayed true to its original
vision: Provide customers with quality
merchandise at the lowest possible price. After decades of growth, we are now more
passionate than ever about being the jeweler people turn to for the perfect expression of
love.
 Historic Timeline
1920s
Morris and William Zale have a vision: Provide
customers with quality merchandise at the lowest
possible price. The vision becomes reality with the
opening of the first Zales Jewelers store in Wichita
Falls, Texas, on March 29, 1924. Inventory
includes small appliances, cameras and cookware,
in addition to jewelry.

1925
The Zale brothers launch a revolutionary marketing
strategy with a credit plan of "a penny down and a
dollar a week," making jewelry and other
merchandise affordable to the average working
American.

1938
The success of the credit policy, coupled with friendly customer service, leads to a period
of tremendous expansion, with roughly one new store each year for a total of 12 stores in
Oklahoma and Texas by 1942. A cooperative buying system is established to centralize
the purchase and distribution of merchandise for all stores, which enables the company to
buy in larger quantities at lower prices. Centralized buying marks the beginning of the
chain store concept for Zales.

1941-1944
Zales Jewelers responds to the limited production of consumer goods during World War
II by maintaining its current prices on jewelry, limiting expenses and looking for growth
opportunities. Zales acquires Corrigan's of Houston, its first "carriage trade" (fine
jewelry) store in 1944, eventually leading to the launch of the Bailey Banks & Biddle
brand.

1946
Zales Jewelers moves its headquarters from Wichita Falls to Dallas.

1950s
The company installs one of the country's first computer systems and is among the first
major jewelers to institute management training.

1957
Zales Jewelers broadens its reach, opening the first store in a shopping center ─ a major
shift from operating only in downtown locations. The same year, Zales announces the
initial public offering of its stock (ZLC) and begins trading its public shares on the
American Stock Exchange the following year.

1960s
Following the discovery of synthetic diamond technology, the company diversifies,
branching out into shoes, sporting goods, drug stores, furniture and catalog stores.
Reflecting this diversity, the company name becomes Zale Corporation.

1970s
M.B. Zale retires as company chairman in 1970. The company's sales triple during the
decade to $1.04 billion in 1980.

1984-1985
Zale Corporation unveils acquisition of the 890-carat "Incomparable Diamond," the
largest internally flawless diamond in the world. In 1985, Zale moves its world
headquarters to Irving, Texas.

1986-1989
The leveraged buyout of Zale Corporation by Peoples Jewellers of Canada and Swarovski
International of Austria is completed. Gordon's Jewelers, a 469-store chain, is acquired in
1989.

1990s
In 1992, Zale Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but emerges the following
year as a financially stronger company after restructuring its debt. Five years later, annual
sales top $1.3 billion, showing profit in all four quarters for the first time since the
reorganization.

1998
Zales Outlet is launched, giving the corporation 13 locations in premier outlet centers
nationwide. Online shopping is launched at www.zales.com.

1999-2000
Zale expands with two major acquisitions: Peoples Jewellers of Canada and Piercing
Pagoda.

2007
Zale expands its e-commerce business with the launch of www.gordonsjewelers.com. To
better focus on the core business and increase returns on capital, Zale divests the Bailey
Banks & Biddle brand.
2008
Zale Corporation creates a new management team under the leadership of CEO Neal
Goldberg that includes veteran Zale executives and new talent with significant retail
experience. The JCK-Harrison Group Consumer Jewelry Study also ranks Zales #1 in
unaided brand awareness.

2009
Zale Corporation marks the 85th anniversary of the opening of the first Zales Jewelers
store with a donation to the M.B. and Edna Zale Foundation, presented to Donald Zale,
son of company founder M.B. Zale.