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Non-Tech : Central Garden & Pet Co. (Nasdaq : CENT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David K. who wrote (26)	7/12/1999 5:54:00 PM
From: Dale Stempson	Respond to of 73

David, I think it's safe to say the majority of CENT's stock price erosion over the last year was due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Scott's deal. During these long negotiations, I suspect that management had to take a somewhat closed-mouth stance towards revealing the specifics of what they might do if the program were to change significantly. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I'm hoping to hear more about future direction. Regardless of their past and future partnership, I think it's worth pointing out that these two companies are also competitors. This was likely a factor in the negotiations. So, where to now? ...well, perhaps the caution light has changed to green and management will pursue acquisitions and product developments which are very competitive with Scott's products. In any case, I think CENT still represents good value here. There will be the reorganization and the one-time charges, but when the dust settles, we'll have a billion dollar plus company with good earnings and perhaps better margins than we've seen in recent times. Regards - Dale

To: David K. who wrote (26)	7/13/1999 1:31:00 PM
From: Dale Stempson	Respond to of 73

Random thoughts... Does the consistent repurchasing of shares have more to do with CENT gearing up for future acquisitions than with propping up undervalued share prices? Management has been plenty vocal with their growth and acquisition plans. Why did Scotts (SMG) stock take such a large hit after the CENT/Solaris announcement? Is it going to cost Scotts plenty of cash to handle the inventory? How long will it take them to replace CENT's program? Would it have been better for Scotts to have CENT firmly in their camp as opposed to perhaps watching it grow to become a major competitor? With CENT's established front-line retail relationships, will we soon see more branded products on the shelves? (while Scotts scrambles to assemble a new organization). Will CENT expand Pennington Seed to go after more of Scotts business? Regards - Dale