NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 10/01/09 -- Thomas Weisel Partners (NASDAQ: TWPG), a global growth-focused investment bank, will host its Annual Consumer Conference, October 1 at the NY Palace Hotel in New York. Institutional investors and company management will gather for this one day conference, which will focus on opportunities and challenges in the consumer industry for the remainder of 2009 and beyond.

The conference will showcase presentations from 40 established and emerging public and private companies, including those engaged in retail, branded apparel and footwear, e-commerce, media and entertainment.

"During the past year, we have witnessed an extraordinary rebound in consumer stocks as household wealth has improved along with the rally in the financial markets. The S&P Consumer Discretionary Index is up 29% year to date, versus the S&P 500, also up a robust 18%. We believe this is a particularly opportune time to closely evaluate the companies that participate in the largest sector of the U.S. economy," said Keith Gay, Head of TWP's Research Group.

The conference will be led by Thomas Weisel Partners four senior consumer research analysts: Christian Buss, retailing - hardlines; Jim Duffy, sports and lifestyle brands; Liz Dunn, retailing - softlines; and Ben Mogil, media and entertainment. Analysts will offer insight into the major trends impacting their respective sectors.

A full list of company participants includes:

America's Car-Mart, Inc.                  Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation          Lithia Motors Inc.
Brown Shoe Co. Inc.                       lululemon athletica inc.
Carmike Cinemas, Inc.                     MDC Partners Inc.
Casual Male Retail Group Inc.             Monro Muffler Brake, Inc.
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd.   National CineMedia, Inc.
Cherokee Inc.                             Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation
ChinaCast Education                       Regal Entertainment Group
Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund               Summer Infant, Inc.
CitiTrends, Inc.                          The FRS Company
Columbia Sportswear Company               U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc.
Control4                                  Urban Outfitters, Inc.
Crocs, Inc.                               VF Corporation
Full House Resorts, Inc.                  Volcom, Inc.
G-III Apparel Group, Ltd.                 Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Gaiam, Inc.                               Youbet.com
Garmin Ltd                                Zag.com, Inc.
IMAX Corporation                          Zumiez Inc.
J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Jarden Corporation

About Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc.

Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. is an investment bank, founded in 1998, focused principally on the growth sectors of the economy. Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. generates revenues from three principal sources: investment banking, brokerage and asset management. The investment banking group is comprised of two disciplines: corporate finance and strategic advisory. The brokerage group provides equity and convertible debt securities sales and trading services to institutional investors, and offers brokerage, advisory and cash management services to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. The asset management group consists of: private equity, public equity and distribution management. Thomas Weisel Partners is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Baltimore, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Denver, New York, Portland, Toronto, London and Zurich. For more information, please visit www.tweisel.com.