Esprit is back at the West Coast with a nationwide contest "How We Met" starting tomorrow, April 2nd. Go online at Esprit.com to participate.

Here's more information about this contest:

ESPRIT KICKS OFF NATIONWIDE "HOW WE MET" CONTEST ON APRIL 2nd IN CELEBRATION OF ITS RETURN TO THE WEST COAST

International Lifestyle Brand to Give Away Trip to Europe and Shopping Spree!

Santa Monica, CA – After more than a decade of absence from the West Coast, Esprit is returning home to its roots in California with a new store on the legendary Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. To honor Esprit's founders, Susie and Doug Tompkins, who met more than 40 years ago in California, Esprit is launching a nationwide contest to find the best "How we met" story, with its own dedicated website at www.esprit.com/howwemet. One lucky pair will win a trip for two to an Esprit Flagship store in Paris, Barcelona or Berlin, a $500 shopping spree and $500 in spending cash.

The contest will begin in Santa Monica on the evening of April 2nd with a grand opening celebration in the new store. Beginning April 3rd through April 23rd, the contest will be open nationwide. Participants can log onto www.esprit.com/howwemet to tell their own "How we met" story, upload a photo and then pass it along to their friends so they can vote. Additionally, participants from the New York or Los Angeles area can grab their spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend or best friend and stop by Esprit Rockefeller Center or Esprit Santa Monica over the weekend (Friday – Sunday) during the contest dates to have their photo taken in store and enter the contest.

The winner will be chosen at the end of April 2009 and will win a luxurious trip to an Esprit Flagship store in Paris, Barcelona or Berlin. The perfect pair will win roundtrip plane tickets to one of the three cities of their choice, three days and four nights in luxurious hotel accommodations, a $500 shopping spree and $500 spending cash.

Leaving the US retail scene in the late '90s, Esprit has since returned, starting with the opening of a New York store in 2004 in the chic Manhattan Flatiron district. Today, the international lifestyle brand has 26 stores in the Northeast Corridor, including New York’s fashionable SoHo district and the legendary Rockefeller Center, and now its first on the West Coast in Santa Monica. Like all the Esprit stores, Santa Monica will offer a wide array of men's and women's clothes, created by Esprit's international team of designers. The designers bring their worldwide inspiration together to create sophisticated, fashionable styles, ensuring up-to-date and fresh looks.

In the 2007/2008 business year, Esprit Holdings Limited generated a worldwide group turnover of around EUR 3.25 billion (as of 30.06.2008). The net profits increased to around EUR 600 million. Esprit operates approximately 770 directly managed retail stores worldwide and distributes to more than 15,150 controlled space wholesale point-of-sales internationally, occupying total selling space of over 1,100,000m2 in more than 40 countries. The company is one of the five largest vertically integrated clothing distributors worldwide. The unique combination of three distribution channels via retail, wholesale and franchise is the key to the brand’s international success. Esprit delivers 12 product lines annually on a monthly basis. Esprit clothing appeals to men and women of all ages, because it's about the attitude - not the age. For more information please visit www.esprit.com.

ESPRIT - THE WORLD IS OUR CULTURE"