UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008

Or

For the transition period from                to                   

Commission File Number: 000-51315

CITI TRENDS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code   (912) 236-1561

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes  o    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes  o    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes  x    No  o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,”  “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).   Yes  o    No  x

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $326,542,472 at August 3, 2007.

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, 14,087,491 shares outstanding as of March 31, 2008.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III incorporates information from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the close of the registrant’s fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, with respect to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 28, 2008.

FORM 10-K REPORT INDEX

Table of Contents

10-K Part and Item No.

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PART I

Some statements in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) of Citi Trends, Inc. (“we”, “us”, or the “Company”) may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than historical facts contained in this report, including statements regarding our future financial position, business policy and plans and objectives and expectations of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “could,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “project” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events, including, among other things: implementation of our growth strategy; our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends; competition in our markets; consumer spending patterns; actions of our competitors or anchor tenants in the strip shopping centers where our stores are located; and anticipated fluctuations in our operating results.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in Item 1A Risk Factors and elsewhere in this Report and the other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our reports on Form 8-K and Form 10-Q, and any amendments thereto. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of such statements. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Report, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.

Information is provided herein with respect to our operations related to our fiscal years ended on February 2, 2008 (“fiscal 2007”), February 3, 2007 (“fiscal 2006”) and January 28, 2006 (“fiscal 2005”).

ITEM 1.          BUSINESS

Overview and History

We are a rapidly growing, value-priced retailer of urban fashion apparel and accessories for the entire family. We offer quality, branded products from nationally recognized brands, as well as private label products and a limited assortment of home décor items. Our merchandise offerings are designed to appeal to the preferences of fashion conscious consumers, particularly African-Americans. We believe that we provide merchandise at compelling values. Our goal is to provide nationally recognized branded merchandise at 20% to 60% discounts to department and specialty stores’ regular prices. Our stores average approximately 9,900 square feet of selling space and are typically located in neighborhood shopping centers that are convenient to low- to moderate-income customers. Originally our stores were located in the Southeast, and in recent years were expanded into the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions as well as the state of Texas. In fiscal 2007 we opened 42 new stores and entered the states of Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.  As of February 2, 2008, we operated 319 stores in both urban and rural markets in 20 states.

Our predecessor, Allied Department Stores, was founded in 1946 and grew into a chain of family apparel stores operating in the Southeast. In 1999, the Company’s chain of stores, then consisting of 85 stores throughout the Southeast, was acquired by Hampshire Equity Partners II, L.P., a private equity firm. Following the acquisition by Hampshire Equity Partners II, L.P., management implemented several strategies to refocus us on the growing urban market and improve our operating and financial performance. After the successful implementation of these strategies and the successful growth of our chain from 85 stores to 212 stores, we completed an initial public offering of our common stock on May 18, 2005.

Our executive offices are located at 104 Coleman Boulevard, Savannah, Georgia 31408 and our telephone number is (912) 236-1561. Our Internet address is http://www.cititrends.com. The reference to our web site address in this report does not constitute the incorporation by reference of the information contained at the web site in this report. We make available, free of charge through publication on our web site, copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we have filed such materials with, or furnished such materials to, the SEC. In addition, you may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549 or on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov, and you may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

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Company Strengths and Strategies

Our goal is to be the leading value-priced retailer of urban fashion apparel and accessories. We believe the following business strengths differentiate us from our competitors and are important to our success:

Focus on Urban Fashion Mix. We focus our merchandise on urban fashions, which we believe appeals to our core customers. We do not attempt to dictate trends, but rather devote considerable effort to identifying emerging trends and ensuring that our apparel assortment is considered timely and fashionable in the urban market. Our merchandising staff tests new merchandise before reordering and actively manages the mix of brands and products in the stores to keep our offering fresh and minimize markdowns.

Superior Value Proposition. As a value-priced retailer, we seek to offer top quality, fashionable merchandise at compelling prices. We seek to provide nationally recognized brands at 20% to 60% discounts to department and specialty stores’ regular prices. We also offer products under our proprietary brands such as “Citi Steps™,” “Diva Blue™,” “Red Ape™,” and “Urban Sophistication™.” These private labels enable us to expand our product selection, offer fashion merchandise at lower prices and enhance our product offerings.

Merchandise Mix that Appeals to the Entire Family. We merchandise our stores to create a destination environment capable of meeting the fashion needs of the entire value-conscious family. Each store offers a wide variety of products for men and women, as well as infants, toddlers, boys and girls. Our stores feature sportswear, dresses, plus-sized apparel, outerwear, footwear and accessories, as well as a limited assortment of home décor items. We believe that the breadth of our merchandise distinguishes our stores from many competitors that offer urban apparel primarily for women, and reduces our exposure to fashion trends and demand cycles in any single category.

Strong and Flexible Sourcing Relationships. We maintain strong sourcing relationships with a large group of suppliers. We have purchased merchandise from more than 1,200 vendors in the past 12 months. Purchasing is controlled by a 25-plus member buying team located at our Savannah, Georgia headquarters and our buying offices in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York, that has on average more than 20 years of retail experience. We purchase merchandise through planned programs with vendors at reduced prices and opportunistically through close-outs, with the majority of our merchandise purchased for the current season and a limited quantity held for sale in future seasons. To foster vendor relationships, we pay vendors promptly and do not ask for typical retail concessions such as promotional and markdown allowances or delivery concessions such as drop shipments to stores.

Attractive Fashion Presentation and Store Environment. We seek to provide a fashion-focused shopping environment that is similar to a specialty apparel retailer, rather than a typical off-price store. Products from nationally recognized brands are prominently displayed by brand, rather than by size, on dedicated, four-way fixtures featuring multiple sizes and styles. The remaining merchandise is arranged on hanging racks. The stores are carpeted and well-lit, with most featuring a sound system that plays urban adult and urban contemporary music throughout the store. Nearly all of our stores have either been opened or remodeled in the past eight years.

Highly Profitable Store Model. We operate a proven and efficient store model that delivers strong cash flow and store level return on investment. We locate stores in high traffic strip shopping centers that are convenient to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. We generally utilize previously occupied store sites which enables us to obtain attractive rents for our store sites. Similarly, advertising expenses are low as we do not rely on promotion-driven sales but rather seek to build our reputation for value through everyday low prices. At the same time, from an investment perspective, we seek to design stores that are inviting and easy to shop, while limiting startup and fixturing costs. As a result, our stores have generated rapid payback of investments, typically within 12 to 14 months.

Product Merchandising and Pricing

Products. Our merchandising policy is to offer high quality, branded products at attractive prices for the entire value-conscious family. We seek to maintain a diverse assortment of first quality, in-season merchandise that appeals to the distinctive tastes and preferences of our core customers. Approximately 47% of our net sales are represented by nationally recognized brands that we purchase from approximately 30 to 50 vendors. We also offer a wide variety of products from less recognized brands and a lesser amount representing private label products under our proprietary brands such as  “Citi Steps™,” “Diva Blue™,” “Red Ape™,” and “Urban Sophistication™.” Our private label products enable us to expand product selection, offer merchandise at lower prices and enhance our product offerings.

Our merchandise includes apparel, accessories and home décor. Within apparel, we offer men’s, women’s, which includes dresses, sportswear and plus-sized offerings, and children’s, which includes offerings for infants, toddlers, boys and girls. We also offer accessories, which includes intimate apparel, handbags, hats, jewelry, footwear, toys, belts and sleepwear, as well as a limited assortment of home décor, which includes giftware, lamps, pictures, mirrors and figurines.

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The following table sets forth the merchandise assortment by classification as a percentage of net sales for fiscal 2007, fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2005.

Pricing. We purchase our merchandise at attractive prices and mark prices up less than department or specialty stores. We seek to provide nationally recognized brands at prices 20% to 60% below regular retail prices available in department stores and specialty stores, and to provide a product offering that validates both our value and fashion positioning to our consumers. We also consider the price-to-value relationships of our non-branded products to be strong. Our basic pricing strategy is everyday low prices. The discount from the suggested retail price is usually reflected on the price tag. We review each department in our stores at least monthly for possible markdowns based on sales rates and fashion seasons to promote faster turnover of inventory and to accelerate the flow of current merchandise.

Sourcing and Allocation

The merchandising department oversees the sourcing and allocation of merchandise to our stores, which allows us to utilize volume purchase discounts and maintain control over our inventory. We source our merchandise from over 1,200 vendors, consisting of domestic manufacturers and importers. Our Chief Merchandising Officer supervises a planning and allocation team consisting of nearly 30 associates, as well as a buying team, which is comprised of three merchandise managers and approximately 25 buyers.

Our buyers have on average more than 20 years of experience in the retail business and have developed long-standing relationships with many of our vendors, including those controlling the distribution of branded apparel. Our buyers, who are based in Savannah, Los Angeles and New York, travel regularly to the major United States apparel markets, visiting major manufacturers and attending national and regional apparel trade shows, including urban-focused trade shows.

Our buyers purchase merchandise in styles, sizes and quantities to meet inventory levels developed by the planning staff. We work closely with our suppliers and are able to differentiate ourselves by our willingness to purchase less than a full assortment of styles, colors and sizes and by our policy of paying promptly and not asking for typical retail concessions, such as promotional and markdown allowances. The purchasing department utilizes several buying techniques that enable us to offer to consumers branded and other merchandise at everyday low prices. The majority of the nationally recognized branded products we sell are purchased in-season and represent vendors’ excess inventories resulting from production or retailer order cancellations. We generally purchase later in the merchandising buying cycle than department and specialty stores. This allows us to take advantage of imbalances between retailers’ demands for specific merchandise and manufacturers’ supply of that merchandise. We also purchase merchandise from some vendors in advance of the selling season at reduced prices. We purchase merchandise on an opportunistic basis, which we then store as “pack and hold” for sale three to nine months later. Where possible, we seek to purchase items based on style or color in limited quantities on a test basis with the right to reorder as needed. Finally, we purchase private label merchandise that we source to our specifications.

We allocate merchandise across our store base according to store-level demand. The merchandising staff utilizes a centralized management system to monitor merchandise purchasing, allocation and sales in order to maximize inventory turnover, identify and respond to changing product demands and determine the timing of mark-downs to our merchandise. The buyers also regularly review the age and condition of the merchandise and manage both the reordering and clearance processes. In addition, the merchandising team communicates with regional, district and store managers to ascertain regional and store-level conditions and to better ensure that our product mix meets our consumers’ demands in terms of quality, fashion, price and availability.

We accept payment from our customers for merchandise at time of sale. Payments are made to us by cash, check, Visa™ or Mastercard™. We do not extend credit terms to our customers.

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Seasonality

The nature of our business is seasonal. Historically, sales in the first and fourth quarters have been higher than sales achieved in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year. Expenses, and to a greater extent operating income, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of our business may affect comparisons between periods.

Store Operations

Store Format. The average selling space of our existing 319 stores is approximately 9,900 square feet, which allows us the space and flexibility to departmentalize our stores and provide directed traffic patterns. We arrange our stores in a racetrack format with women’s sportswear, our most attractive and fashion current merchandise, in the center of each store and complementary categories adjacent to those items. Men’s and boy’s apparel is displayed on one side of the store, while dresses, footwear and accessories are displayed on the other side. Merchandise for infants, toddlers and girls is displayed along the back of the store. Impulse items, such as jewelry and sunglasses, are featured near the checkout area. Products from nationally recognized brands are prominently displayed on four-way racks at the front of each department. The remaining merchandise is displayed on hanging racks and occasionally on table displays. Large hanging signs identify each category location. The unobstructed floor plan allows the customer to see virtually all of the different product areas from the store entrance and provides us the flexibility to easily expand and contract departments in response to consumer demand, seasonality and merchandise availability. Virtually all of our inventory is displayed on the selling floor. Prices are clearly marked and often have the comparative retail-selling price noted on the price tag.

Store Management. Store operations are managed by our Senior Vice President of Store Operations, four regional managers and 38 district managers, each of whom typically manages five to twelve stores. The typical store is staffed with a store manager, two or three assistant managers and seven to eight part-time sales associates, all of whom rotate work days on a shift basis. District managers and store managers participate in a bonus program based on achieving predetermined levels of sales and profits. The district managers also participate in bonus programs based on achieving targeted payroll costs. Regional managers participate in a bonus program based on a rollup of the district managers’ bonuses. The assistant managers and sales associates are compensated on an hourly basis with incentives. Moreover, we recognize individual performance through internal promotions and provide extensive opportunities for advancement, particularly given our rapid growth.

We place significant emphasis on loss prevention in order to control inventory shrinkage. Initiatives include electronic tags on most of our products, training and education of store personnel on loss prevention issues, digital video camera systems, alarm systems and motion detectors in the stores. In a few stores, we recently began using an outside service to visually monitor the stores throughout the day using sophisticated camera systems. We also capture extensive point-of-sale data and maintain systems that monitor returns, voids and employee sales, and produce trend and exception reports to assist in identifying shrinkage issues. We have a centralized loss prevention team that focuses exclusively on implementation of these initiatives and specifically on stores that have experienced above average levels of shrinkage. We also maintain an independent, third party administered, toll-free line for reporting shrinkage concerns and any other employee concerns.

Employee Training. Our employees are critical to achieving our goals, and we strive to hire employees with high energy levels and motivation. We have well-established store operating policies and procedures and an extensive 90-day in-store training program for new store managers and assistant managers. Sales associates also participate in a 30-day customer service and store procedures training program, which is designed to enable them to assist customers in a friendly, helpful manner.

Layaway Program. We offer a layaway program that allows customers to purchase merchandise by initially paying a 20% deposit together with a $2.00 service charge. The customer then makes additional payments every two weeks and has 60 days within which to complete the purchase. If the purchase is not completed, the customer receives a merchandise credit for amounts paid less a $5.00 re-stocking fee and service charge.

Site Selection. Cost-effective store locations are an important part of our profitability model. Accordingly, we look for second and third use store locations that offer attractive rents, but also meet our demographic and economic criteria.   We have a dedicated real estate management team responsible for new store site selection. In selecting a location, we target both urban and rural markets. Demographic criteria used in site selection include concentrations of our core consumers. In addition, we require convenient site accessibility, as well as strong co-tenants, such as food stores, dollar stores, rent-to-own stores and other apparel stores.

Shortly after we sign a new store lease, our store construction department prepares the store by installing fixtures, signs, dressing rooms, checkout counters, cash register systems and other items. Once we take possession of a store site, we can open the store within approximately three to four weeks.

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Advertising and Marketing

Our advertising goal is to build the “Citi Trends” brand and promote consumers’ association of the “Citi Trends” brand with value, quality, fashion and everyday low prices. We generally focus our advertising efforts during the Easter, back-to-school and Christmas seasons. This advertising consists of radio commercials on local hip-hop radio stations that highlight our brands, value and everyday low prices. We also do in-store advertising that includes window signs designated for special purposes, such as seasonal events and clearance periods, and taped audio advertisements co-mingled with in-store music programs. Signs change in color, quantity and theme every three to six weeks. For store grand openings and significant remodels, we typically seek to create community awareness and consumer excitement through radio advertising preceding and during the grand opening and by creating an on-site event with local radio personalities broadcasting from the new location. We also distribute promotional items such as gift certificates and shopping sprees in connection with our grand openings and significant remodels.

Our marketing efforts center on promoting our everyday low prices and on demonstrating the strong price-to-value relationship of our products to our consumers. We do not utilize promotional advertising. Merchandise is priced so that our competition rarely has lower prices. In the limited situations where the competition offers the same merchandise at a lower price, we will match the price.

Distribution

All merchandise sold in our stores is shipped directly from our distribution centers in Savannah, Georgia and Darlington, South Carolina. We generally ship merchandise from our distribution centers to our stores daily, utilizing United Parcel Service, Inc. and FedEx Corporation. In addition to the distribution center in Savannah, we have a small merchandise storage facility that is attached to our corporate offices.  The Savannah facilities have a combined square footage of approximately 240,000, including approximately 55,000 square feet of office space. The Darlington facility has approximately 286,000 square feet. To support our continued growth, we are nearing completion of an expansion to the Darlington distribution center which will add approximately 264,000 square feet to the facility. We expect this expansion to support our growth plans through 2010.

Information Technology and Systems

We have information systems in place to support each of our business functions. We purchased our enterprise software from Island Pacific, a primary software provider to the retail industry. The computer platform is an IBM AS400. The Island Pacific software supports the following business functions: purchasing, purchase order management, price and markdown management, distribution, merchandise allocation, general ledger, accounts payable and sales audit.

Our stores use point-of-sale software from DataVantage, a division of MICROS Systems, Inc., to run the store’s cash registers. The system uses bar code scanners at checkout to capture item sales. It also supports end-of-day processing and automatically transmits sales and transaction data to Savannah soon after the close of business. Additionally, the software supports store time clock and payroll functions. To facilitate the marking down and re-ticketing of merchandise, employees in the stores use hand-held scanners that read the correct item price and prepare new price tickets for merchandise. DataVantage software also enables us to sort and review transaction data and generate exception and other database reporting to assist in loss prevention.

We believe that our information systems, with upgrades and updates over time, are adequate to support our operations for the foreseeable future.

Growth Strategy

Our growth strategy is to open stores in new and existing markets, as well as to increase sales in existing stores. Adding stores in the markets we currently serve often enables us to benefit from enhanced name recognition and achieves advertising and operating synergies. In fiscal 2005, we opened 36 new stores and entered the Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; and Miami, Florida markets.  In fiscal 2006, we opened 42 new stores and entered the Indianapolis, Indiana; Dayton, greater-Cleveland, Akron, Ohio; and St Louis, Missouri markets. In fiscal 2007, we opened 42 new stores and entered the Tulsa, Oklahoma; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin markets. We expect to open approximately 40 new stores in fiscal 2008. Approximately 90% of the new stores we intend to open in fiscal 2008 will be located in states in which we are currently located.

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Competition

The markets we serve are highly competitive. The principal methods of competition in the retail business are fashion, assortment, pricing and presentation. We believe we have a competitive advantage in our offering of fashionable brands at everyday low prices. We compete against a diverse group of retailers including national off-price retailers, mass merchants, smaller specialty retailers and dollar stores. The off-price retail companies with which we compete include TJX Companies, Inc. (“TJX Companies”), Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp.™ (“Burlington Coat Factory”) and Ross Stores, Inc.™ (“Ross Stores”). In particular, TJX Companies’ A.J. Wright stores target moderate income consumers and Ross Stores has a similar concept targeting lower income consumers, called dd’s DISCOUNTS. We believe our strategy of appealing to African-American consumers and offering urban apparel products allows us to compete successfully with these retailers. We also believe we offer a more inviting store format than the off-price retailers, including our use of carpeted floors and more prominently displayed brands. We also compete with a group of smaller specialty retailers that only sell women’s products, such as Rainbow, Dots™, Fashion Cents™, It’s Fashions! and Simply Fashions™. Our mass merchant competitors include Wal-Mart and Kmart. These chains do not focus on fashion apparel and, within their apparel offering, lack the urban focus that we believe differentiates our offering and appeals to our core customers. Similarly, while some of the dollar store chains offer apparel, they typically offer a more limited selection focused on basic apparel needs. As a result, we believe there is significant demand for a value retailer that addresses the market of low- to moderate-income consumers generally and, particularly, African-American and other minority consumers who seek value-priced, urban fashion apparel and accessories. See Item 1A Risk Factors in this Report for additional information.

Intellectual Property

We regard our trademarks and service marks as having significant value and as being important to our marketing efforts. We have registered the “Citi Trends” trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the Principal Register as both a trademark for retail department store services and as a trademark for clothing. We have also registered the following trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the Principal Register: “Citi Club,” “Citi Express,” “Citi Knights,” “Citi Nite,” “Citi Steps,” “Citi Trends Fashion for Less,” “Citi Women,” “CT Sport,” “Diva Blue,” “Lil Citi Man,” “Lil Ms Hollywood,” “Univer Soul,” “Urban Sophistication,” “Red Ape™,”  and “Vintage Harlem.” Our policy is to pursue registration of our marks and to oppose vigorously infringement of our marks.

Employees

As of February 2, 2008, we had approximately 1,600 full-time and approximately 1,900 part-time employees. Of these employees, approximately 3,000 are employed in our stores and the remainder are employed in our distribution centers and corporate offices. We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements, and none of our employees is represented by a labor union. We believe our relations with our employees are good.

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ITEM 1A.       RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risk factors, together with the other information contained or incorporated by reference into this Report. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face.  Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we deem to be currently immaterial also may impair our business operations. The occurrence of any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our success depends on our ability to anticipate, identify and respond rapidly to changes in consumers’ fashion tastes, and our failure to adequately evaluate fashion trends could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The apparel industry in general and our core customer market in particular are subject to rapidly evolving fashion trends and shifting consumer demands. Accordingly, our success is heavily dependent on our ability to anticipate, identify and capitalize on emerging fashion trends, including products, styles and materials that will appeal to our target consumers. Our failure to anticipate, identify or react appropriately and timely to changes in styles, trends, brand preferences or desired image preferences is likely to lead to lower demand for our merchandise, which could cause, among other things, sales declines, excess inventories and higher markdowns. The inaccuracy of our forecasts regarding fashion trends could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unsuccessful in competing with our retail apparel competitors, our market share could decline or our growth could be impaired and, as a result, our financial results could suffer.

The retail apparel market is highly competitive with few barriers to entry. We compete against a diverse group of retailers, including national off-price apparel chains such as TJX Companies, Burlington Coat Factory, and Ross Stores; mass merchants such as Wal-Mart and Kmart; smaller discount retail chains that only sell women’s products, such as Rainbow, Dots™, Fashion Cents™, It’s Fashions!, and Simply Fashions™; and general merchandise discount stores and dollar stores, which offer a variety of products, including apparel, for the value-conscious consumer. We also compete against local off-price and specialty retail stores, regional retail chains, traditional department stores, web-based retail stores and other direct retailers.

The level of competition we face from these retailers varies depending on the product segment, as many of our competitors do not offer apparel for the entire family. Our greatest competition is generally in women’s apparel. Many of our competitors are larger than us and have substantially greater resources than us and, as a result, may be able to adapt better to changing market conditions, exploit new opportunities, exert greater pricing pressures on suppliers and open new stores more quickly and effectively than us. Many of these retailers have better name recognition among consumers than us and purchase significantly more merchandise from vendors. These retailers may be able to purchase branded merchandise that we cannot purchase because of their name recognition and relationships with suppliers, or they may be able to purchase branded merchandise with better pricing concessions than us. Our local and regional competitors have extensive knowledge of the consumer base and may be able to garner more loyalty from customers than us. If the consumer base we serve is satisfied with the selection, quality and price of our competitors’ products, consumers may decide not to shop in our stores. Additionally, if our existing competitors or other retailers decide to focus more on our core customers, particularly African-American consumers, we may have greater difficulty in competing effectively, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected, and the market price of our common stock could suffer.

The retail industry periodically has experienced consolidation and other ownership changes. In the future, other United States or foreign retailers may consolidate, undergo restructurings or reorganizations, or realign their affiliations. Any of these developments could result in our competitors increasing their buying power or market visibility. These developments may cause us to lose market share and could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

We could experience a reduction in sales and cash flows if we are unable to fulfill our current and future merchandising needs.

We depend on our suppliers for the continued availability and satisfactory quality of our merchandise. Most of our suppliers could discontinue selling to us at any time. Additionally, if the manufacturers or other owners of brands or trademarks terminate the license agreements under which some of our suppliers sell our products, we may be unable to obtain replacement merchandise of comparable fashion appeal or quality, in the same quantities or at the same prices. If we lose the services of one or more of our significant suppliers or one or more of them fail to meet our merchandising needs, we may be unable to obtain replacement merchandise in a timely manner. If our existing suppliers cannot meet our increased needs and we cannot locate alternative supply sources, we may be unable to obtain sufficient quantities of the most popular items of the nationally recognized brands at attractive prices, which could negatively impact our sales and results of operations.

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As an apparel retailer, we rely on numerous third parties in the supply chain to produce and deliver the products that we sell, and our business may be negatively impacted by their failure to comply with applicable law.

We rely on numerous third parties to supply the products that we sell. Violations of law by our importers, manufacturers or distributors could result in delays in shipments and receipt of goods, thus causing our revenues to decline. Further, we are susceptible to the receipt of counterfeit brands or unlicensed goods. We could incur liability with manufacturers or other owners of the brands or trademarked products if we inadvertently receive and sell counterfeit brands or unlicensed goods and, therefore, it is important that we establish relationships with reputable vendors to prevent the possibility that we inadvertently receive counterfeit brands or unlicensed goods. Although we have a quality assurance team to check merchandise in an effort to assure that we purchase only authentic brands and licensed goods and are careful in selecting our vendors, we may receive products that we are prohibited from selling or incur liability for selling counterfeit brands or unlicensed goods, which could increase our operating expenses and cause our net income to decline.

If our growth strategy is unsuccessful, our financial condition and results of operations could suffer and the market price of our common stock could decline.

Our ability to continue to increase our net sales and earnings depends, in large part, on opening new stores and operating the new and existing stores profitably. We opened 36, 42 and 42 new stores in fiscal 2005, fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007, respectively. We expect to open approximately 40 new stores in fiscal 2008. If we are unable to open all of these stores or operate them profitably, we may not achieve our forecasted sales and earnings growth targets. Additionally, growth of our store base will place increased demands on our operating, managerial and administrative resources and may lead to management and operating inefficiencies, including merchandising, personnel, distribution and integration problems. These demands and inefficiencies may cause deterioration in the financial performance of our individual stores and, therefore, our entire business.

We would experience increased operating costs and limited amounts of growth if we are unable to obtain reasonably priced financing.

Although we believe we can meet our future cash requirements with cash flow from operations, existing cash balances and borrowings under our revolving credit facility, we may need to raise additional debt or equity capital in the future to open new stores, to respond to competitive pressures or to respond to unforeseen financial requirements.  We may not be able to obtain additional capital on commercially reasonable terms or at all.  Our inability to obtain reasonably priced financing could create increased operating costs and diminished levels of growth, as we could be forced to incur indebtedness with above market interest rates or with substantial restrictive covenants, issue equity securities that dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders, or scale back our operations and/or store growth strategy.

A significant disruption to our distribution process or southeastern retail locations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to distribute our merchandise to our store locations in a timely manner is essential to the efficient and profitable operation of our business. We have distribution centers located in Savannah, Georgia and Darlington, South Carolina. Any natural disaster or other disruption to the operation of either of these facilities due to fire, hurricane, other natural disaster or any other cause could damage a significant portion of our inventory or impair our ability to stock our stores adequately.

In addition, the southeastern United States, where our distribution centers are located, is vulnerable to significant damage or destruction from hurricanes and tropical storms. Although we maintain insurance on our stores and other facilities, the economic effects of a natural disaster that affects our distribution centers and/or a significant number of our stores could increase our operating expenses, impair our cash flows and reduce our revenues, which could negatively impact the market price of our common stock.

Our net sales, inventory levels and earnings fluctuate on a seasonal basis, which makes our business more susceptible to adverse events that occur during those seasons.

Our net sales and earnings are significantly higher during the first and fourth quarters each year due to the importance of the spring selling season, which includes Easter, and the fall selling season, which includes Christmas. Factors negatively affecting us during the first and fourth quarters, including adverse weather and unfavorable economic conditions, will have a greater adverse effect on our financial condition than if our business were less seasonal.

In order to prepare for the spring and fall selling seasons, we must order and keep in stock significantly more merchandise than during other parts of the year. This seasonality makes our business more susceptible to the risk that our inventory will not satisfy actual consumer demand. In addition, any unanticipated demand imbalances during these peak shopping seasons could require us to sell excess inventory at a substantial markdown or fail to satisfy our consumers. In either event, our net sales and gross margins may be lower than historical levels, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

10

We experience fluctuations and variability in our comparable store sales and quarterly results of operations and, as a result, the market price of our common stock may fluctuate or decline substantially.

Our comparable store sales and quarterly results have fluctuated significantly in the past based on a number of economic, seasonal and competitive factors, and we expect them to continue to fluctuate in the future. Since the beginning of fiscal 2005, our quarter-to-quarter comparable store sales have ranged from a decrease of 1.1% to an increase of 25.0%. The most significant fluctuations were due to the unusually high sales following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The positive post-hurricane impact on sales has decreased over time. In addition, we may be unable to maintain historical levels of comparable store sales as we execute our growth strategy and expand our business. This variability could cause our comparable store sales and quarterly results to fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which could result in volatility of the market price of our common stock. If our comparable store sales and quarterly results fail to meet the expectations of the market generally, the market price of our common stock could decline substantially.

Our sales and revenues could decline as a result of general economic and other factors outside of our control, such as changes in consumer spending patterns and declines in employment levels.

Downturns, or the expectation of a downturn, in general economic conditions could adversely affect consumer spending patterns, our sales and our results of operations. Because apparel generally is a discretionary purchase, declines in consumer spending patterns may have a more negative effect on apparel retailers than some other retailers. Therefore, we may not be able to maintain our historical rate of growth in revenues and earnings, or remain as profitable, if there is a decline in consumer spending patterns. In addition, since the majority of our stores are located in the southeastern United States, our operations are more susceptible to regional factors than the operations of our more geographically diversified competitors. Therefore, any adverse economic conditions that have a disproportionate effect on the southeastern United States could have a greater negative effect on our sales and results of operations than on retailers with a more geographically diversified store base.

If we fail to protect our trademarks, there could be a negative effect on our brand image and limitations on our ability to penetrate new markets.

We believe that our “Citi Trends” trademark is integral to our store design and our success in building consumer loyalty to our brand. We have registered this trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We have also registered, or applied for registration of, additional trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that we believe are important to our business. We cannot assure you that these registrations will prevent imitation of our name, merchandising concept, store design or private label merchandise or the infringement of our other intellectual property rights by others. Imitation of our name, concept, store design or merchandise in a manner that projects lesser quality or carries a negative connotation of our brand image could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we cannot assure you that others will not try to block the manufacture or sale of our private label merchandise by claiming that our merchandise violates their trademarks or other proprietary rights since other entities may have rights to trademarks that contain the word “Citi” or may have rights in similar or competing marks for apparel and/or accessories. Although we cannot currently estimate the likelihood of success of any such lawsuit or ultimate resolution of such a conflict, such a controversy could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we fail to implement and maintain effective internal controls in our business, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and an audit of such controls by our independent registered public accounting firm. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, we may be unable to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting. Moreover, effective internal controls, particularly those related to revenue recognition and accounting for inventory/cost of sales, are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important in our effort to prevent financial fraud. If we cannot produce reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, the market price of our stock could decline significantly and we may be unable to obtain additional financing to operate and expand our business.

11

Adverse trade restrictions may disrupt our supply of merchandise. We also face various risks because much of our merchandise is imported from abroad.

We purchase the products we sell directly from over 1,200 vendors, and a substantial portion of this merchandise is manufactured outside of the United States and imported by our vendors from countries such as China and other areas of the Far East, including Taiwan and the Philippines. The countries in which our merchandise currently is manufactured or may be manufactured in the future could become subject to new trade restrictions imposed by the United States or other foreign governments. Trade restrictions, including increased tariffs or quotas, embargoes, and customs restrictions, against apparel items, as well as United States or foreign labor strikes, work stoppages or boycotts, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of apparel available to us and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our merchandise supply could be impacted if our vendors’ imports become subject to existing or future duties and quotas, or if our vendors face increased competition from other companies for production facilities, import quota capacity and shipping capacity.

We also face a variety of other risks generally associated with relying on vendors that do business in foreign markets and import merchandise from abroad, such as:

·                  political instability or the threat of terrorism, in particular in countries where our vendors source merchandise;

·                  increases in merchandise costs due to raw material price inflation or changes in purchasing power caused by fluctuations in currency exchange rates;

·                  enhanced security measures at United States and foreign ports, which could delay delivery of imports;

·                  imposition of new or supplemental duties, taxes, and other charges on imports;

·                  delayed receipt or non-delivery of goods due to the failure of foreign-source suppliers to comply with import regulations;

·                  delayed receipt or non-delivery of goods due to organized labor strikes or congestion at United States ports; and

·                  local business practice and political issues, including issues relating to compliance with domestic or international labor standards.

The United States may impose new initiatives that adversely affect the trading status of countries where apparel is manufactured. These initiatives may include retaliatory duties or other trade sanctions that, if enacted, would increase the cost of products imported from countries where our vendors acquire merchandise.

We depend on the experience and expertise of our senior management team and key employees, and accordingly, the loss of their services could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, operating costs, financial condition and results of operations.

The success of our business is dependent upon the close supervision of all aspects of our business by our senior management, particularly the operation of our stores, the selection of merchandise and the site selection for new stores. In addition, we do not have a non-competition agreement with R. Edward Anderson, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Accordingly, Mr. Anderson could leave us at any time and begin to work for our competitors or otherwise, which loss of services could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, operating costs, financial condition and results of operations.

We may continue to experience market conditions that could adversely affect the liquidity of our investment portfolio.

At February 2, 2008, we had $56.2 million of short-term investments in municipal auction rate securities (“ARS”) issued by student loan funding organizations.  These securities are high-grade (AAA rated) and approximately 84% of them are either guaranteed by the Department of Education under the Federal Family Education Loan Program or backed by insurance companies. Historically, the ARS provided liquidity via an auction process that reset the interest rate every 35 days, allowing investors to either roll over their investments or sell them at par.  Subsequent to February 2, 2008, there has been insufficient demand for these types of investments during the auctions and, as a result, these securities are not currently liquid. We may not be able to access cash by selling these securities without incurring a loss of principal until either, liquidity returns to the auction process, a secondary market emerges, they are redeemed by the issuer, or they mature in years ranging from 2010 to 2040.  We will assess the potential impairment in future periods based on several factors, including whether liquidity returns to the market, the forecasted recovery of the securities, and our ability and intent to hold the investments for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. Such an assessment may change the classification of these investments to long-term or result in an impairment charge. If we determine that the fair value of these securities is temporarily impaired, we would record a temporary charge within other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity. If it is determined that the fair value of these securities is other-than-temporarily impaired, we would record a loss in our Statements of Income. We have obtained a $35 million unsecured revolving credit facility to ensure that we have adequate liquidity.

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Failure to attract, train, assimilate and retain skilled personnel could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy and our financial condition.

Like most retailers, we experience significant employee turnover rates, particularly among store sales associates and managers, and our continued growth will require us to hire and train even more new personnel. We therefore must continually attract, hire and train new personnel to meet our staffing needs. We constantly compete for qualified personnel with companies in our industry and in other industries. A significant increase in the turnover rate among our store sales associates and managers would increase our recruiting and training costs and could decrease our operating efficiency and productivity.

If we are unable to retain our employees or attract, train, assimilate or retain other skilled personnel in the future, we may not be able to service our customers as effectively, thus reducing our ability to continue our growth and to operate our existing stores as profitably as we have in the past.

Increases in the minimum wage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 became law on May 25, 2007. As a result, the federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour in July 2007 and will increase to $6.55 per hour in July 2008 and $7.25 per hour in July 2009.  Additionally, from time to time, legislative proposals are made to increase the minimum wage in certain individual states. Wage rates for many of our employees are slightly above the minimum wage. As federal and/or state minimum wage rates increase, we may need to increase not only our employees’ wage rates that are under the new minimum, but also the wages paid to our other hourly employees. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have a material adverse effect on our operating costs, financial condition and results of operations.

Any failure of our management information systems or the inability of third parties to continue to upgrade and maintain our systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on the accuracy, reliability and proper functioning of our management information systems, including the systems used to track our sales and facilitate inventory management. We also rely on our management information systems for merchandise planning, replenishment and markdowns, as well as other key business functions. These functions enhance our ability to optimize sales while limiting markdowns and reducing inventory risk through properly marking down slow-selling styles, reordering existing styles and effectively distributing new inventory to our stores. We do not currently have redundant systems for all functions performed by our management information systems. Any interruption in these systems could impair our ability to manage our inventory effectively, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To support our growth, we will need to expand our management information systems, and our failure to link and maintain these systems adequately could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on third-party suppliers to maintain and periodically upgrade our management information systems, including the software programs supporting our inventory management functions. If any of these suppliers is unable to continue to maintain and upgrade these software programs and/or if we are unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner, it could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to attract consumers to our stores depends on the success of the strip shopping centers and downtown business districts where our stores are located.

We locate our stores in strip shopping centers, street front locations and downtown business districts where we believe our consumers and potential consumers shop. The success of an individual store can depend on favorable placement within a given strip shopping center or business district. We cannot control the development of alternative shopping destinations near our existing stores or the availability or cost of real estate within existing or new shopping destinations. If our store locations fail to attract sufficient consumer traffic or we are unable to locate replacement locations on terms acceptable to us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer. If one or more of the anchor tenants located in the strip shopping centers or business districts where our stores are located close or leave, or if there is significant deterioration of the surrounding areas in which our stores are located, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

13

Our stock price is subject to volatility.

Our stock price is volatile. From our initial public offering in May 2005 through February 2, 2008, the trading price of our common stock has ranged from $10.76 to $57.85 per share. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their common stock at or above their respective purchase prices. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:

·                  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;

·                  changes in securities analysts’ recommendations or estimates of our financial performance;

·                  publication of research reports by analysts;

·                  changes in market valuations or operating performance of our competitors or companies similar to ours;

·                  announcements by us, our competitors or other retailers;

·                  additions and departures of key personnel;

·                  changes in accounting principles;

·                  the passage of legislation or other developments affecting us or our industry;

·                  the trading volume of our common stock in the public market;

·                  changes in economic conditions;

·                  financial market conditions;

·                  natural disasters, terrorist acts, acts of war or periods of civil unrest; and

·                  the realization of some or all of the risks described in this section entitled “Risk Factors.”

In addition, the stock markets have experienced significant price and trading volume fluctuations from time to time, and the market prices of the equity securities of retailers have been extremely volatile and have recently experienced sharp price and trading volume changes. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Securities analysts may not continue to cover our common stock or they may issue negative reports, and this may have a negative impact on the price of our common stock.

The trading market for our common stock relies, in part, on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about our company or our industry.  Public statements by these securities analysts may affect our stock price.  If any of the analysts who cover us downgrades the rating of our common stock, our common stock price would likely decline.  If any of these analysts ceases coverage of our common stock, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our common stock price to decline.  Further, if no analysts continue to cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may depress the market price of our common stock.

In addition, rules mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and a global settlement between the SEC and securities analysts have caused a number of fundamental changes in how securities analysts are reviewed and compensated. In particular, many investment banking firms are now required to contract with independent financial analysts for their stock research. In this environment, it may be difficult for companies with smaller market capitalizations, such as our company, to attract independent financial analysts to cover them, which could have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.

We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not currently intend to do so for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Therefore, investors are not likely to receive any dividends on their common stock for the foreseeable future. In addition, under the terms of our revolving credit facility, the payment of cash dividends is prohibited.

14

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and by-laws and Delaware law may delay or prevent our acquisition by a third party.

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our amended and restated by-laws contain several provisions that may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us without the approval of our board of directors. These provisions include, among other things, a classified board of directors, advance notice for raising business or making nominations at stockholder meetings and “blank check” preferred stock. Blank check preferred stock enables our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to designate and issue additional series of preferred stock with such dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights, including convertible securities with no limitations on conversion, as our board of directors may determine, including rights to dividends and proceeds in a liquidation that are senior to the common stock.

We are also subject to several provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law that could delay, prevent or deter a merger, acquisition, tender offer, proxy contest or other transaction that might otherwise result in our stockholders receiving a premium over the market price for their common stock or may otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

ITEM 1B.       UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 2.          PROPERTIES

Store Locations

As of February 2, 2008, we operated 319 stores located in 20 states. Our stores average approximately 9,900 square feet of selling space and are typically located in neighborhood strip shopping centers and downtown business districts that are convenient to low- to moderate-income customers. Originally our stores were located in the Southeast, but in recent years we expanded into the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest regions and Texas.

We have no franchising relationships, and all of the stores are company operated.  All existing 319 stores, totaling approximately 3.8 million gross square feet and 3.2 million selling square feet, are leased under operating leases. Additionally, as of March 10, 2008, we have signed leases for 16 new stores to be opened during fiscal 2008 aggregating approximately 180,000 total selling square feet. The typical store lease is for five years with an option to extend the lease term for an additional five-year period, and all but one lease require us to pay percentage rent and increases in specified site-related charges. Nearly all store leases provide us the right to cancel following an initial three-year period in the event the store does not meet pre-determined sales levels. The table below sets forth the number of stores in each of the 20 states in which we operated as of February 2, 2008:

Alabama—22

Arkansas—7

Florida—24

Georgia—53

Illinois—1

Indiana—4

Kentucky—3

Louisiana—26

Maryland—4

Michigan—6

Mississippi—21

Missouri—2

North Carolina—34

Ohio—11

Oklahoma—1

South Carolina—37

Tennessee—12

Texas—34

Virginia—16

Wisconsin—1

Support Center Facilities

We own an approximately 170,000 square-foot facility located on Fahm Street in Savannah, Georgia, which serves as one of our two distribution centers and to a lesser extent, as office space. We own an approximately 70,000 square-foot facility on Coleman Boulevard in Savannah, which serves as our headquarters and to a lesser extent, as a merchandise storage facility. We own an approximately 286,000 square-foot facility in Darlington, South Carolina, which serves as a distribution center. To support our continued growth, we are nearing completion of an expansion to the Darlington distribution center which will add approximately 264,000 square feet to the facility. We expect this expansion to support our growth plans through 2010. In addition, we currently lease a 1,200 square-foot office in New York City and a 1,100 square-foot office in Los Angeles, which are used for buyer operations and meetings with vendors.

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ITEM 3.          LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are from time to time involved in various legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of our business, including claims by customers, employees or former employees. While litigation is subject to uncertainties and the outcome of any litigated matter is not predictable, we are not aware of any legal proceedings pending or threatened against us that we expect to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

ITEM 4.          SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

There were no matters submitted to a vote of security holders through the solicitation of proxies or otherwise during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

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PART II

ITEM 5.                             MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol “CTRN”. The following table shows the high and low per share prices of our common stock for the periods indicated.

On March 31, 2008, the last reported sale price of our common stock on The NASDAQ Stock Market was $18.45 per share. On March 31, 2008, there were five holders of record and approximately 2,400 beneficial holders of our common stock.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Currently we intend to retain any future earnings to finance the expansion of our business and for general corporate purposes. In addition, under the terms of our revolving credit facility, the payment of cash dividends is prohibited.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers.

None.

18

Stock Performance Graph

Set forth below is a line graph comparing the last thirty-two months percentage change in the cumulative total stockholder return on shares of our common stock against (i) the cumulative total return of companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market and (ii) the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ Retail Trade. The period compared commences May 18, 2005, the date on which our common stock began trading on The NASDAQ Stock Market, and ends February 2, 2008. This graph assumes that $100 was invested on May 18, 2005 in our common stock and in each of the market index and the industry index, and that all cash distributions were reinvested. Our common stock price performance shown on the graph is not indicative of future price performance.

COMPARISON OF 32 MONTH CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Citi Trends, Inc., The NASDAQ Composite Index
And The NASDAQ Retail Trade Index

*$100 invested on 5/18/05 in stock or 4/30/05 in index, including reinvestment of dividends.
Fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to January 31.

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ITEM 6.          SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

Selected Financial and Operating Data

The following table provides selected financial and operating data for each of the fiscal years in the five-year period ended February 2, 2008, including: (a) our statement of income data for each such period, (b) additional operating data for each such period and (c) balance sheet data as of the end of each such period. The statement of income data for fiscal 2005, fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007 and the balance sheet data as of February 3, 2007 and February 2, 2008 are derived from our audited financial statements included in Item 8 that have been audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The statement of income data for the fiscal years ended January 29, 2005 and January 31, 2004 and the balance sheet data as of January 31, 2004, January 29, 2005 and January 28, 2006 are derived from our audited financial statements that are not included in this Report. The selected financial and operating data set forth below should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Item 7 and our financial statements and related notes set forth in the financial pages of this Report. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future period.

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ITEM 7.                             MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the section entitled “Selected Financial and Operating Data” and our audited financial statements and the respective related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a rapidly growing, value-priced retailer of urban fashion apparel and accessories for the entire family. Our merchandise offerings are designed to appeal to the preferences of fashion conscious consumers, particularly African-Americans. Originally our stores were located in the Southeast, and in recent years we expanded into the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions and Texas. We operate 319 stores in both urban and rural markets in 20 states.

We are pursuing an aggressive store growth strategy and believe that the addition of new stores will be the primary source of future growth. In fiscal 2007 we opened 42 stores, entering the Tulsa, Oklahoma; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin markets. We expect to open approximately 40 new stores in fiscal 2008. Approximately 90% of the new stores we intend to open in fiscal 2008 will be located in states that we currently serve.

We measure performance using key operating statistics. One of the main performance measures is comparable store sales growth. We define a comparable store as a store that has been opened for an entire fiscal year. Therefore, a store will not be considered a comparable store until its 13th month of operation at the earliest or until its 24th month at the latest. As an example, stores opened in fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007 were not considered comparable stores in fiscal 2007. Relocated and expanded stores are included in the comparable store sales results. We also use other operating statistics, most notably average sales per store, to measure our performance. As we typically occupy existing space in established shopping centers rather than sites built specifically for our stores, store square footage (and therefore sales per square foot) varies by store. We focus on overall store sales volume as the critical driver of profitability. The average sales per store has increased over the years, as we have increased comparable store sales and opened new stores that are generally larger than our historical store base. Average sales per store have increased from $0.8 million in fiscal 2000 to $1.5 million in fiscal 2007. In addition to sales, we measure gross profit as a percent of sales and store operating expenses, with a particular focus on labor as a percentage of sales. These results translate into store level contribution, which we use to evaluate overall performance of each individual store. Finally, we monitor corporate expenses against budgeted amounts.

Basis of the Presentation

Net sales consist of store sales and layaway fees, net of returns by customers. Cost of sales consists of the cost of products we sell and associated freight costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses are comprised of store costs, including salaries and store occupancy costs, handling costs, corporate and distribution center costs and advertising costs. We operate on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year, which ends on the Saturday closest to January 31. Each of our fiscal quarters consists of four 13-week periods, with an extra week added on to the fourth quarter every five to six years.  The years ended February 2, 2008, February 3, 2007, January 28, 2006, January 29, 2005 and January 31, 2004 are referred to as fiscal 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively. Fiscal year 2006 is comprised of 53 weeks. Fiscal years 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2003 are each comprised of 52 weeks.

Results of Operations

The following discussion of our financial performance is based on the condensed financial statements set forth in the financial pages of this Report. The nature of our business is seasonal. Historically, sales in the first and fourth quarters have been higher than sales achieved in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year. Expenses, and to a greater extent operating income, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of our business may affect comparisons between periods.

22

Net Sales and Additional Operating Data

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, selected statement of income data expressed both in dollars and as a percentage of net sales:

The following table provides information, for the periods indicated, about the number of total stores open at the beginning of the period, stores opened and closed during each period, total stores open at the end of each period and comparable store sales for the periods:

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Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006

Net Sales. Net sales increased $55.6 million, or 14.6%, to $437.5 million in fiscal 2007 from $381.9 million in fiscal 2006. The increase in net sales was due to 42 new store openings in fiscal 2007, 42 new store openings in fiscal 2006 for which there was not a full year of sales in 2006, a comparable store sales increase of 1.0% (note that 1.0% is based on a 52-week fiscal 2007 compared to the comparable 52 weeks in the prior year), partially offset by the 53-week fiscal 2006 having an extra week. The 42 stores opened in fiscal 2007 accounted for $40.3 million of the total increase in sales, the 42 stores opened in fiscal 2006 accounted for $21.4 million of the increase, and the 235 comparable stores contributed $3.5 million of the increase in sales on a comparable 52-week versus 52-week basis, but had a $6.1 million decrease on a fiscal year basis due to the extra week in fiscal 2006. Sales in the extra week in fiscal 2006 were $9.6 million. The increase in comparable store sales on a comparable weeks basis included a slight increase in the number of items per sale transaction, partially offset by slight declines in the number of transactions and the average item price.  Comparable store sales changes by major merchandise class were as follows:  Children’s +4%; Home +1%; Women’s +0%; Men’s -1%; Accessories -2%.  Comparable stores include locations that have been relocated or expanded.  There were 12 stores relocated or expanded in fiscal 2007 and 7 stores relocated or expanded in fiscal 2006.  Sales in these comparable relocated and expanded stores increased 18.1% in fiscal 2007, while sales in all other comparable stores decreased 0.6%.

Gross Profit. Gross profit increased $12.5 million, or 8.6%, to $158.7 million in fiscal 2007 from $146.2 million in fiscal 2006. The increase in gross profit is a result of the increase in sales, partially offset by a reduction in the gross margin. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit decreased to 36.3% in fiscal 2007 from 38.3% in fiscal 2006 due to a 210 basis points increase in merchandise markdowns as a percentage of sales.  The increase in markdowns occurred in the third and fourth quarters due to negative comparable store sales during the months of September and October in the third quarter and during the critical month of December in the fourth quarter.  With comparable store sales being negative during those months, higher clearance markdowns were necessary.  Inventory shrinkage was 20 basis points higher year-over-year; however, the increase in shrinkage was offset by a slightly higher initial merchandise mark-up and slightly lower freight costs.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $20.0 million, or 18.5%, to $127.5 million in fiscal 2007 from $107.5 million in fiscal 2006. The increase in these expenses was due primarily to additional store level, distribution and corporate costs arising from the opening of 42 new stores in fiscal 2007 and approximately $600,000 of expenses related to a secondary stock offering and stock registration of which the Company received no proceeds.   Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales increased to 29.1% in fiscal 2007 from 28.2% in fiscal 2006, due primarily to the deleveraging effect that occurs on expenses as a percentage of sales when comparable store sales increase at a rate, 1.0%, that is lower than the rate of inflation on expenses.  In particular, occupancy expenses as a percent of sales were up 60 basis points and payroll was 40 basis points higher.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $4.3 million, or 51.1%, to $12.6 million in fiscal 2007 from $8.3 million in fiscal 2006, as the result of capital expenditures incurred for new and relocated/expanded stores and for new scanning technology used in the stores.

Interest Income. Interest income increased to $2.4 million in fiscal 2007 from $2.0 million in fiscal 2006 due to higher interest rates and a slightly higher average investment balance throughout the year.

Interest Expense. Interest expense increased to $469,000 in fiscal 2007 from $359,000 in fiscal 2006 due to the addition of a $4.8 million capital equipment lease in fiscal 2006.

Income Tax Expense. Income tax expense decreased $4.2 million, or 39.9%, to $6.4 million in fiscal 2007 from $10.6 million in fiscal 2006. The effective income tax rates for fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2006 were 31.0% and 33.2%, respectively. The tax rate decreased in fiscal 2007 primarily as a result of continued increases in income tax credits and tax-exempt interest income, while pretax income was decreasing.

Net Income. Net income decreased 33.4% to $14.2 million in fiscal 2007 from $21.4 million in fiscal 2006 due to the factors discussed above.

Fiscal 2006 Compared to Fiscal 2005

Net Sales. Net sales increased $92.1 million, or 31.8%, to $381.9 million in fiscal 2006 from $289.8 million in fiscal 2005. The increase in net sales was due to 42 new store openings in fiscal 2006, 36 new store openings in fiscal 2005 for which there was not a full year of sales in 2005, and a comparable store sales increase of 8.2% (note that 8.2% is based on a 53-week fiscal 2006 compared to the comparable 53 weeks in the prior year). The 42 stores opened in fiscal 2006 accounted for $39.8 million of the total increase in sales, the 36 stores opened in fiscal 2005 accounted for $24.6 million of the increase, and the 199 comparable stores contributed $28.7 million of the increase in sales. These sales increases were offset by $1 million due to one store that was closed in fiscal 2005. 

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Sales in the 53rd week of fiscal 2006 were $10.1 million. Approximately one-half of the increase in comparable store sales was from a higher average item price, with the remainder due to an increase in customer transactions. A greater consumer preference for branded goods played a large role in both the higher average item price and the increase in transactions.  Comparable store sales changes by major merchandise class were as follows:  Accessories +15%; Children’s +15%; Home +12%; Men’s +8%; Women’s +2%. Comparable stores include locations that have been relocated or expanded.  There were 7 stores relocated or expanded in fiscal 2006 and 4 stores relocated or expanded in fiscal 2005.  Sales in these comparable relocated and expanded stores increased 21.0% in fiscal 2006, while sales in all other comparable stores increased 7.6%.

Gross Profit. Gross profit increased $35.3 million, or 31.9%, to $146.2 million in fiscal 2006 from $110.9 million in fiscal 2005. The increase in gross profit was primarily a result of our strong sales increases. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit was 38.3% in fiscal 2006 compared to 38.3% in fiscal 2005. Although the gross profit as a percentage of sales did not change, markdown rates were higher as a percentage of sales in fiscal 2006 compared to fiscal 2005.  The higher markdowns were offset by a higher initial mark-up on merchandise.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $23.9 million, or 28.7%, to $107.5 million in fiscal 2006 from $83.6 million in fiscal 2005. The increase in these expenses was due primarily to additional store level, distribution and corporate costs arising from the opening of 42 new stores in fiscal 2006.   Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased to 28.2% in fiscal 2006 from 28.9% in fiscal 2005.  The decrease as a percentage of net sales was primarily due to the payment in fiscal 2005 of a $1.2 million fee to terminate the consulting agreement with Hampshire Equity Partners II, L.P. (formerly majority stockholder), property losses in fiscal 2005 from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma of approximately $700,000 and expenses of approximately $525,000 in fiscal 2005 related to our secondary offering, which was consummated on January 31, 2006.  Partially offsetting these favorable items were additional costs incurred by the Company for compliance with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and increased insurance cost for property and medical coverage in fiscal 2006, all of which totaled approximately $2.9 million.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $2.2 million, or 36.8%, to $8.3 million in fiscal 2006 from $6.1 million in fiscal 2005, primarily as the result of capital expenditures incurred for new and relocated/expanded stores.

Interest Income. Interest income increased $1.1 million, or 126.0%, to $2.0 million in fiscal 2006 from $891,000 in fiscal 2005. The increase in interest income was due to the full year impact of interest income earned on proceeds from our initial public offering.

Interest Expense. Interest expense increased $14,000, or 4.1%, to $359,000 in fiscal 2006 from $345,000 in fiscal 2005. The increase in interest expense was due primarily to the addition of a $4.8 million capital equipment lease in fiscal 2006.

Income Tax Expense. Income tax expense increased $3.0 million, or 40.6%, to $10.6 million in fiscal 2006 from $7.6 million in fiscal 2005. The effective income tax rates for fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2005 were 33.2% and 34.7%, respectively. The tax rate decreased in fiscal 2006 primarily as a result of our investment in tax exempt securities and an increase in job tax credits.

Net Income. Net income increased 50.4% to $21.4 million in fiscal 2006 from $14.2 million in fiscal 2005 due to the factors discussed above.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our cash requirements are primarily for working capital, expansion of our distribution infrastructure, construction of new stores, remodeling of our existing stores and the improvement of our information systems. Historically, we have met these cash requirements from cash flow from operations, short-term trade credit, borrowings under our revolving lines of credit, long-term debt and capital leases, and cash proceeds from our initial public offering.  We expect to be able to meet future cash requirements with cash flow from operations, existing cash balances and borrowings under our  revolving credit facility (described below), if necessary.

Discussion of Cash Flows

Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006

At February 2, 2008, we had total cash and cash equivalents of $6.2 million compared with total cash and cash equivalents of $7.7 million at February 3, 2007. The most significant factors in the change in our net liquidity position during fiscal 2007 were positive cash flow from operations and net sales of marketable securities, offset by capital expenditures.

Inventory represented 39.2% of our total assets as of February 2, 2008. Management’s ability to manage our inventory can have a significant impact on our cash flows from operations during a given interim period or fiscal year. In addition, inventory purchases can be seasonal in nature, such as the purchase of warm-weather or Christmas-related merchandise.

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Cash Flows Provided by Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $16.6 million in fiscal 2007 compared to $19.1 million in fiscal 2006. The main sources of cash provided during fiscal 2007 were net income adjusted for depreciation and amortization, deferred income taxes and noncash stock-based compensation expense, totaling $26.6 million, and an increase in accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities of $3.8 million. Uses of cash consisted of a $9.1 million increase in inventory, a $3.3 million decrease in accounts payable and a $1.1 million increase in prepaid assets.  The change in income taxes payable was substantially offset by excess tax benefits from stock option exercises. Accounts payable did not increase as would typically be the case when inventory increases, because inventory turns slowed down, particularly over the last five months of the year when comparable store sales were negative. The decline in inventory turns forced us to take significantly more merchandise markdowns, as discussed in the Gross Profit section above, and caused us to slow down purchases in the last half of the year. This reduction in purchases contributed to the decrease in accounts payable at year end. Additionally, we took advantage of more opportunistic purchases of pack-and-hold merchandise in 2007.  Such purchases are paid for well in advance of shipping the merchandise to our stores, causing a reduction in inventory turns and in accounts payable as a percentage of inventory.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities. Cash used in investing activities was $20.3 million in fiscal 2007 compared to $26.9 million in fiscal 2006. Cash used for the purchase of property and equipment increased during fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006 due primarily to capital expenditures in the amount of $30.1 million in fiscal 2007 for the build out of 42 new stores and twelve store relocations/expansions, purchase of our corporate headquarters/inventory storage facility in Savannah, GA that had previously been leased, construction work related to the expansion of the Darlington, South Carolina distribution center, and other general corporate purposes, compared to $20.5 million ($15.7 million, excluding equipment financed by capital leases) in fiscal 2006 for the build out of 42 new stores and seven relocations/expansions, purchase of markdown scanners, build out of our distribution center in Darlington, and other general corporate purposes. Net sales of municipal auction rate securities provided cash of $9.8 million in 2007, while net purchases of such securities used cash of $11.5 million in 2006.

Cash Flows Provided by Financing Activities. Cash provided by financing activities was $2.2 million in fiscal 2007 and $11.5 million in fiscal 2006. Financing activities consisted primarily of the tax benefit from stock option exercises of $3.5 million in 2007 and $12.2 million in 2006, partially offset by repayments on long-term debt and capital lease obligations totaling $1.8 million and $0.8 million in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

Until required for other purposes, we maintain cash and cash equivalents in deposit or money market accounts.

Fiscal 2006 Compared to Fiscal 2005

At February 3, 2007, we had total cash and cash equivalents of $7.7 million compared with total cash and cash equivalents of $4.0 million at January 28, 2006. The most significant factors in the change in our net liquidity position during fiscal 2006 were the positive cash flow from operations and the financing cash flows provided by tax benefits realized from the exercise of stock options, offset by net purchases of marketable securities and capital expenditures.

Inventory represented 38.2% of our total assets as of February 3, 2007. Management’s ability to manage our inventory can have a significant impact on our cash flows from operations during a given interim period or fiscal year. In addition, inventory purchases can be seasonal in nature, such as the purchase of warm-weather or Christmas-related merchandise.

Cash Flows Provided by Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $19.1 million in fiscal 2006 compared to $27.7 million in fiscal 2005. The main sources of cash provided during fiscal 2006 were net income adjusted for depreciation and amortization, deferred income taxes and noncash stock-based compensation expense, totaling $28.3 million, increases in accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities of $4.4 million and an increase in accrued compensation of $1.2 million. Uses of cash consisted of a $13.2 million increase in inventory net of accounts payable and a $1.7 million increase in prepaid assets.  The change in income taxes payable was substantially offset by excess tax benefits from stock option exercises.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities. Cash used in investing activities was $26.9 million in fiscal 2006 compared to $66.0 million in fiscal 2005. Cash used for the purchase of property and equipment increased during fiscal 2006 compared to fiscal 2005 primarily due to capital expenditures in the amount of $20.5 million ($15.7 million, excluding equipment financed by capital leases) in fiscal 2006 for the build out of 42 new stores and seven store relocations/expansions, purchase of markdown scanners, build out of a distribution center in Darlington and other general corporate purposes, compared to $12.1 million ($11.6 million, excluding equipment financed by capital leases) in fiscal 2005 for the build out of 36 new stores and four relocations/expansions, purchase of our distribution center in Darlington and other general corporate purposes. Other uses of cash included net purchases of marketable securities of $11.5 million in 2006 and $54.5 million in 2005.

Cash Flows Provided by Financing Activities. Cash provided by financing activities was $11.5 million in fiscal 2006 and $35.5 million in fiscal 2005. Financing activities in fiscal 2006 consisted primarily of the tax benefit from stock exercises of $12.2 million, partially offset by repayments on long-term debt and capital lease obligations of $0.8 million, while in 2005, there were $41.1 million of proceeds from the initial public offering and $400,000 from stock option exercises, partially offset by a payment of $3.6 million in connection with the redemption of our preferred stock and $2.4 million of repayments on long-term debt and capital lease obligations.

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Until required for other purposes, we maintain cash and cash equivalents in deposit or money market accounts.

Liquidity Sources, Requirements and Contractual Cash Requirements and Commitments

Our principal sources of liquidity consist of: (i) cash and cash equivalents (which equaled $6.2 million as of February 2, 2008); (ii) trade credit; (iii) cash generated from operations on an ongoing basis as we sell our merchandise inventory; and (iv) as of March 26, 2008, a $35 million revolving credit facility. Short-term trade credit represents a significant source of financing for inventory purchases. Trade credit arises from customary payment terms and trade practices with our vendors.  Historically, our principal liquidity requirements have been for working capital and capital expenditure needs.

At February 2, 2008, the Company had $56.2 million of short-term investments in municipal auction rate securities (“ARS”) issued by student loan funding organizations.  These securities are high-grade (AAA rated) and approximately 84% of them are either guaranteed by the Department of Education under the Federal Family Education Loan Program or backed by insurance companies. Historically, the ARS provided liquidity via an auction process that reset the interest rate every 35 days, allowing investors to either roll over their investments or sell them at par.  Subsequent to February 2, 2008, there has been insufficient demand for these types of investments during the auctions and, as a result, these securities are not currently liquid. As a result, we rolled over our investments, earning interest rates that were approximately 2% higher, on average, than were being earned previously.

Due to the lack of liquidity in the ARS, we may not be able to access cash by selling these securities without incurring a loss of principal until either, liquidity returns to the auction process, a secondary market emerges, they are redeemed by the issuer, or they mature in years ranging from 2010 to 2040. We will assess the potential impairment in future periods based on several factors, including whether liquidity returns to the market, the forecasted recovery of the securities, and our ability and intent to hold the investments for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. Such an assessment may change the classification of these investments to long-term or result in an impairment charge. If we determine that the fair value of these securities is temporarily impaired, we would record a temporary charge within other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity. If it is determined that the fair value of these securities is other-than-temporarily impaired, we would record a loss in our Statements of Income.

We believe that our existing sources of liquidity will be sufficient to fund our operations and anticipated capital expenditures for at least the next 24 months.

We anticipate that capital expenditures will be approximately $17 million to $20 million in fiscal 2008. These expenditures will relate to the purchase of property and equipment for approximately 40 stores that we plan to open in fiscal 2008 and the completion of the expansion of our Darlington distribution center. We plan to finance these capital expenditures with cash flow from operations and existing cash balances and, if necessary, borrowings under our $35 million revolving credit facility.

The following table discloses aggregate information about our contractual obligations as of February 2, 2008 and the periods in which payments are due:

(1)          Represents fixed minimum rentals in stores and does not include incremental rents which are computed as a percentage of net sales. For example, in fiscal 2007 incremental percentage rent was approximately $1.9 million, which represented 10.0% of total rent expense.

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Indebtedness. We had a $25 million revolving line of credit with Wachovia Capital Finance secured by substantially all of our assets and pursuant to which we paid customary fees. This secured line of credit expired on April 2, 2007 and was not renewed.

In September 2003, we entered into a $3 million unsecured revolving line of credit with Bank of America that expired on June 26, 2007. This facility was renewed for a period of one year, expiring June 30, 2008. Borrowings under this credit agreement bear interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 2.0%. At February 2, 2008, there were no outstanding borrowings on the unsecured revolving line of credit.

Subsequent to February 2, 2008, the Company obtained a $35 million unsecured revolving credit facility with Bank of America, replacing the $3 million facility described above.  This facility has a term of 364 days, has an unused commitment fee equal to 0.15%, and has one restrictive financial covenant (adjusted leverage ratio).  Loans under the facility shall bear interest at either (a) a rate equal to the higher of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.50% and (ii) Bank of America’s prime rate, plus an applicable margin; or (b) a rate equal to LIBOR plus an applicable margin. The applicable margin is dependent on the Company’s adjusted leverage ratio and ranges from 1.00% to 1.50% for LIBOR-based loans, and from 0.00% to 0.50% for prime rate-based loans. We have had no borrowings under this facility.

Capital Leases. We have capital lease obligations that financed the purchase of technology equipment. As of February 2, 2008, our capital lease obligations were $3.0 million. These obligations have maturity dates ranging from May 2008 to December 2009. The interest rates on these obligations range from 11.3% to 13.0%. All of these obligations are secured by the technology equipment.  The lease agreements contain cross default provisions which result in a default if the Company is out of compliance with any other borrowing agreements.

Operating Leases. We lease our stores under operating leases, which generally have an initial term of five years with one five-year renewal option. The typical store lease requires a combination of both fixed monthly rentals and rentals computed as percentage of net sales after a certain sales threshold has been met. Included in our operating lease contractual obligations are the minimum monthly rental payments for our Los Angeles and New York City buyers’ offices. For fiscal 2007, rental expense was $19.3 million compared to $16.0 million in fiscal 2006 (including approximately $1.9 million and $2.5 million of percentage rent, respectively, in fiscal 2007 and 2006).

Construction. We have executed various agreements with a construction company and certain other providers of services and equipment, which commit the Company to the expansion of its distribution center in Darlington, South Carolina and the later implementation of a new warehouse management system. The distribution center is expected to be substantially completed in the spring of 2008, while implementation of the new warehouse management system is anticipated in the last half of 2008. The aggregate cost of the projects is presently expected to approximate $15 million. Through February 2, 2008, approximately $7.2 million of the cost of these projects has been paid.

Purchase Obligations. As of February 2, 2008, we had purchase obligations of $64.4 million, all of which were for less than one year. These purchase obligations primarily consist of outstanding merchandise orders.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Other than the store operating leases described above, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Outstanding Stock Options

As of February 2, 2008, we had outstanding vested options to purchase 424,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $4.67 per share and outstanding unvested options to purchase 136,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $24.43 per share. The per share value of each share of common stock underlying the vested and unvested options, based on the difference between the exercise price per option and the estimated fair market value of the shares at the dates of the grant of the options (also referred to as intrinsic value), ranges from $0 to $4.20 per share. Based on the closing price of our common stock of $15.11 per share on February 1, 2008, the intrinsic value of the options outstanding on February 2, 2008 was $5.2 million, of which $5.0 million related to vested options and $200,000 related to unvested options.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We believe the following critical accounting policies describe the more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of the financial statements:

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Revenue Recognition

While the recognition of revenue is predominantly derived from routine retail transactions and does not involve significant judgment, revenue recognition represents an important accounting policy of ours. We recognize retail sales net of sales taxes at the time the customer takes possession of the merchandise and purchases are paid for, less an allowance for returns. We allow for returns up to ten days after the date of sales and we reduce revenues for each fiscal year for returns in the ten days after the period ends. At February 2, 2008, the reserve for returns was $203,000. Revenue from layaway sales is recognized when the customer has paid for and received the merchandise. Layaway service charges, which are non-refundable, are recognized in revenue when collected. All sales are from cash, check or major credit card company transactions. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to revenue recognition during fiscal 2007.

Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost (first-in, first-out basis) or market as determined by the retail inventory method, less a provision for estimated inventory shrinkage. Under the retail inventory method, the cost value of inventory and gross margins are determined by calculating a cost-to-retail ratio and applying it to the retail value of inventory. Inherent in the retail inventory calculation are certain significant management judgments and estimates, including, among others, merchandise markups, markdowns and shrinkage, which impact the ending inventory valuation at cost as well as resulting gross margins. We estimate shrinkage for the period between the last physical count and the balance sheet date. The estimate for the shrinkage reserve can be affected by changes in actual shrinkage trends. Inventory shrinkage as a percentage of sales has ranged from 1.5% to 1.9% during fiscal years 2005 through 2007. We believe the first-in, first-out retail inventory method results in an inventory valuation that is fairly stated. Many retailers have arrangements with vendors that provide for rebates and allowances under certain conditions, which ultimately affect the value of the inventory. We do not generally enter into such arrangements with our vendors. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to the valuation of inventory during fiscal 2007.

Property and Equipment, net

We have a significant investment in property and equipment. Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Equipment under capital leases is stated at the present value of minimum lease payments. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the lesser of the estimated useful lives (primarily three to five years for computer equipment and furniture, fixtures and equipment, five years for leasehold improvements and fifteen years for buildings) of the related assets or the relevant lease term including renewals that are reasonably assured, whichever is shorter. Any reduction in these estimated useful lives would result in a higher annual depreciation expense for the related assets. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to the valuation and classification of property and equipment during fiscal 2007.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We continually evaluate whether events and changes in circumstances warrant revised estimates of the useful lives or recognition of an impairment loss for long-lived assets. Future adverse changes in market and legal conditions, or poor operating results of underlying assets could result in losses or an inability to recover the carrying value of the long-lived asset, thereby possibly requiring an impairment charge in the future. If facts and circumstances indicate that a long-lived asset, including property and equipment, may be impaired, the carrying value is reviewed. If this review indicates that the carrying value of the asset will not be recovered as determined based on projected undiscounted cash flows related to the asset over its remaining life, the carrying value of the asset is reduced to its estimated fair value. Impairment losses in the future are dependent on a number of factors such as site selection and general economic trends, and thus could be significantly different from historical results. To the extent our estimates for net sales, gross profit and store expenses are not realized, future assessments of recoverability could result in impairment charges. There were no impairment charges during fiscal years 2005 through 2007. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to impairment of long-lived assets during fiscal 2007.

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Stock-Based Compensation

We adopted SFAS No. 123 (revised 2004) Share-Based Payment (“SFAS No. 123R”) during the first quarter of fiscal 2006.  SFAS No. 123R requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all stock-based awards made to employees based on estimated fair value of the award.  The determination of the fair value of our stock options on the date of grant using an option-price model is affected by our stock price as well as assumptions regarding a number of complex and subjective variables.  These variables include, but are not limited to, the expected stock price volatility over the term of the awards and actual and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors. The fair values of options and shares issued pursuant to the stock based compensation plans at each grant date were estimated using the Black-Scholes Merton option pricing model.  If factors change and we employ different assumptions in the application of SFAS No. 123R in future periods, the compensation expense recorded under SFAS No. 123R may differ significantly from the amount recorded in the current period. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions used to determine stock-based compensation during fiscal 2007.

Operating Leases

We lease all of our store properties and account for the leases as operating leases in accordance with SFAS No. 13, Accounting for Leases. Many lease agreements contain tenant improvement allowances, rent holidays, rent escalation clauses and/or contingent rent provisions. For purposes of recognizing incentives and minimum rental expenses on a straight-line basis over the terms of the leases, we use the date of initial possession to begin amortization, which is generally when we enter the space and begin to make improvements in preparation of intended use.

For scheduled rent escalation clauses during the lease terms or for rental payments commencing “rent holidays” at a date other than the date of initial occupancy, we record minimum rental expenses on a straight-line basis over the terms of the leases. For tenant improvement allowances we record a deferred rent liability on the balance sheets and amortize the deferred rent over the terms of the leases.

Certain leases provide for contingent rents that are not measurable at inception. These contingent rents are primarily based on a percentage of sales that are in excess of a predetermined level. These amounts are excluded from minimum rent and are included in the determination of total rent expense when it is probable that the expense has been incurred and the amount is reasonably estimable. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to operating leases during fiscal 2007.

Accounting for Income Taxes

We account for income taxes in accordance with SFAS No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes . The computation of income taxes is subject to estimation due to the judgment required and the uncertainty related to the recoverability of deferred tax assets or the outcome of tax audits. We adjust our income tax provision in the period it is determined that actual results will differ from its estimates. Tax law and rate changes are reflected in the income tax provision in the year in which such changes are enacted. There were no material changes in the estimates or assumptions related to income taxes during fiscal 2007.

The above listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all our accounting policies. In many cases the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting any available alternative would not produce a materially different result.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2006, the Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) ratified EITF Issue 06-3, “How Taxes Collected From Customers and Remitted to Governmental Authorities Should Be Presented in the Income Statement (That Is, Gross versus Net Presentation).” A consensus was reached that entities may adopt a policy of presenting taxes in the income statement on either a gross or net basis. An entity should disclose its policy of presenting taxes and the amount of any taxes presented on a gross basis should be disclosed, if significant. The guidance is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2006. We present sales net of sales taxes. EITF 06-3 did not impact the method for recording these sales taxes in our financial statements.

In July 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued FASB Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes - an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109 (“FIN 48”), which clarifies the accounting and disclosure for uncertain tax positions, as defined therein.  FIN 48 seeks to reduce the diversity in practice associated with certain aspects of the recognition and measurement related to accounting for income taxes.  In May 2007, the FASB issued FSP FIN 48-1, Definition of a Settlement in FASB Interpretation No. 48 (“FSP FIN 48-1”).  FSP FIN 48-1 clarifies when a tax position is considered settled under FIN 48.  Per FSP FIN 48-1, a tax position is considered “effectively settled” upon completion of the examination by the taxing authority without being legally extinguished.  For “effectively settled” tax positions, a company can recognize the full amount of the tax benefit.  FSP FIN 48-1 was effective with the Company’s adoption of FIN 48.  On February 4, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of FIN 48.  FIN 48 requires that each tax position be reviewed and assessed with recognition and measurement of the tax benefit based on a “more-likely-than-not” standard with respect to the ultimate outcome, regardless of whether this assessment is favorable or unfavorable.  The Company has completed its review and assessment of all tax positions and during fiscal year 2007 recorded a net

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benefit to retained earnings and a decrease to current liabilities of $301,000 in accordance with the new accounting guidance.  The Company files income tax returns in U.S. Federal and state jurisdictions and is subject to examinations by the IRS and other taxing authorities.  At February 2, 2008, there were no benefits taken on the Company’s income tax returns that do not qualify for financial statement recognition under FIN 48.   Under FIN 48, if a tax position does not meet the minimum statutory threshold to avoid payment of penalties and interest, a company is required to recognize an expense for the amount of the interest and penalty in the period in which the company claims or expects to claim the position on its tax return.  For financial statement purposes, FIN 48 allows companies to elect whether to classify such charges as either income tax expense or another expense classification.  Should such expense be incurred in the future, the Company will classify such interest as a component of interest expense and penalties as a component of income tax expense.

In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measures (“SFAS No. 157”). SFAS No. 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and requires additional disclosures about fair value measurements.  SFAS No. 157 does not expand the use of fair value in any new circumstances.  The provisions of this statement are to be applied prospectively as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which this statement is initially applied, with any transition adjustment recognized as a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings.  The provisions of SFAS No. 157, as issued, are effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007.  However, at the February 6, 2008 meeting, the FASB issued FSP FAS 157-2, Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157 (“FSP FAS 157-2”) and agreed to defer for one year the effective date of Statement 157 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (that is, at least annually).  Also in February 2008, the FASB issued FSP FAS 157-1, Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Other Accounting Pronouncements That Address Fair Value Measurements for Purposes of Lease Classification or Measurement under Statement 13 (“FSP FAS 157-1”).  FSP FAS 157-1 amends FASB Statement No. 157, to exclude FASB Statement No. 13, Accounting for Leases, and other accounting pronouncements that address fair value measurements for purposes of lease classification or measurement under Statement 13.  FSP FAS 157-1 is effective with the initial adoption of SFAS 157.  The Company does not expect that SFAS No. 157, including FSP FAS 157-1, will have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statements.

In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.”  SFAS No. 159 permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value.  SFAS No. 159 applies to all entities that elect the fair value option.  The provisions of SFAS No. 159 are effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007 which for the Company allows adoption of this statement in the fiscal year beginning February 3, 2008.  The Company has not chosen the fair value option for any financial assets and liabilities, therefore, this statement did not have and is not expected to have any impact on the Company’s financial statements.

In December 2007, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin 110, Share-Based Payment (“SAB 110”).  SAB 110 allows for continued use of the simplified method for estimating the expected term of “plain vanilla” share option grants under specified conditions.  The expected term used to value a share option grant under the simplified method is the mid-point between the vesting date and the contractual term of the share option.  SAB 110 eliminates the December 31, 2007 sunset provision previously specified in SAB 107.  SAB 110 is effective for share option grants made on or after January 1, 2008.  As noted in Note 8(f), the Company has utilized the simplified method for estimating the expected term of its stock option grants under SAB 107 and SAB 110 and will continue to utilize this simplified method until the Company has sufficient historical exercise data to provide a reasonable basis to estimate the expected term.

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ITEM 7A.       QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK

In June 2005 we began investing excess cash in auction rate securities (“ARS”). At February 2, 2008, the Company had $56.2 million of short-term investments in municipal auction rate securities issued by student loan funding organizations.  These securities are high-grade (AAA rated) and approximately 84% of them are either guaranteed by the Department of Education under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) or backed by insurance companies. Approximately 44% of the ARS are guaranteed under FFELP, while 35% are backed by insurance from AMBAC Assurance Corporation (AMBAC) and 9% are backed by MBIA Insurance Corporation (MBIA). The S&P equivalent ratings as of February 2, 2008 for both AMBAC and MBIA were AAA, with a negative watch; however, both were subsequently taken off negative watch and their AAA ratings were reaffirmed.

Historically, the ARS provided liquidity via an auction process that reset the interest rate every 35 days, allowing investors to either roll over their investments or sell them at par.  Subsequent to February 2, 2008, there has been insufficient demand for these types of investments during the auctions and, as a result, these securities are not currently liquid. We may not be able to access cash by selling these securities without incurring a loss of principal until either, liquidity returns to the auction process, a secondary market emerges, they are redeemed by the issuer, or they mature in years ranging from 2010 to 2040.  We will assess the potential impairment in future periods based on several factors, including whether liquidity returns to the market, the forecasted recovery of the securities, and our ability and intent to hold the investments for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. Such an assessment may change the classification of these investments to long-term or result in an impairment charge. If we determine that the fair value of these securities is temporarily impaired, we would record a temporary charge within other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity. If it is determined that the fair value of these securities is other-than-temporarily impaired, we would record a loss in our Statements of Income.

We are also exposed to financial market risks related to changes in interest rates connected with our revolving lines of credit, which bear interest at variable rates. We cannot predict market fluctuations in interest rates. As a result, future results may differ materially from estimated results due to adverse changes in interest rates or debt availability. A hypothetical 100 basis point increase in prevailing market interest rates would not have materially impacted our financial position, results of operations or cash flows for fiscal 2007.  We do not engage in financial transactions for trading or speculative purposes and have not entered into any interest rate hedging contracts.

We source all of our product from apparel markets in the United States in U.S. Dollars and, therefore, are not subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. We have not entered into forward contracts to hedge against fluctuations in foreign currency prices.

ITEM 8.          FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The financial statements required by this item and the report of the independent accountant thereon required by Item 14(a)(2) appear beginning on page F-2 of this Report.  See accompanying Index to the financial statements on page F-1. The supplementary financial data required by Item 302 of Regulation S-K appears in note 12 to the financial statements.

ITEM 9.                             CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Not applicable.

ITEM 9A.       CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We carried out an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Report pursuant to Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 of the Exchange Act. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer each concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information has been accumulated and communicated to our management, including the officers who certify our financial reports, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding the required disclosures.

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Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended February 2, 2008 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

For the Report of Management on Internal Control and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, see Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

ITEM 9B.       OTHER INFORMATION

None.

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PART III

ITEM 10.       DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The information required by this Item with respect to our executive officers and directors, compliance by our directors, executive officers and certain beneficial owners of our common stock with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, the committees of our Board of Directors, our Audit Committee Financial Expert and our Code of Ethics is incorporated herein by reference to information under the captions entitled “Board of Directors and Committees of the Board of Directors,” “Executive Officers,” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance”  in our definitive proxy statement (to be filed hereafter) in connection with our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and possibly elsewhere in the proxy statement (or will be filed by amendment to this Report).

ITEM 11.       EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to information under the captions entitled “Executive Compensation,” “Board of Directors and Committees of the Board of Directors” and “Compensation Committee Report” in our definitive proxy statement (to be filed hereafter) in connection with our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and possibly elsewhere in the proxy statement (or will be filed by amendment to this Report).

ITEM 12.                      SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The information required by this Item with respect to ownership of our common stock is incorporated herein by reference to the information under the caption entitled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in our definitive proxy statement (to be filed hereafter) in connection with our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and possibly elsewhere in the proxy statement (or will be filed by amendment to this Report).

Equity Compensation Plan Information.  The following table represents those securities authorized for issuance as of February 2, 2008 under our existing equity compensation plans.

(1)          Includes 430,337 outstanding options issued under the 1999 Allied Fashion Stock Option Plan.  This plan was replaced in May 2005 by the 2005 Citi Trends Inc. Long Term Incentive Plan (the “Incentive Plan”), which provides for the issuance of up to 1,300,000 shares of common stock upon the exercise of stock options or as awards of restricted stock and performance awards. Also, includes 129,804 outstanding options and 64,471 nonvested restricted stock grants issued under the Incentive Plan.

(2)          The weighted average exercise price is for options only and does not include nonvested restricted stock.

(3)          Consists of shares available for awards of options and other stock-based awards under the Incentive Plan.

ITEM 13.       CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the information under the captions entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” and “Board of Directors and Committees of the Board of Directors” in our definitive proxy statement (to be filed hereafter) in connection with our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and possibly elsewhere in the proxy statement (or will be filed by amendment to this Report).

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ITEM 14.       PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the information under the caption entitled “Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in our definitive proxy statement (to be filed hereafter) in connection with our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and possibly elsewhere in the proxy statement (or will be filed by amendment to this Report).

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PART IV

ITEM 15.       EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a)(1)       Financial Statements

See accompanying Financial Statements beginning on page F-1.

(a)(2)       Financial Statement Schedules

All schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the SEC are not required under the related instructions, are inapplicable or the information is included in the Financial Statements, and therefore, have been omitted.

(a)(3)       Exhibits

Exhibit Index

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*                    Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.