Bassett Expects to Report Second Quarter Results by Month End

BASSETT, Va., July 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bassett Furniture Industries,
Inc. (Nasdaq:BSET) today announced that as part of its triennial accounting
review by the SEC, it has received comment letters from the Commission during
the second and third quarters of 2009, relating to Bassett's Form 10-K for the
year ended November 29, 2008 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended February 28,
2009.

Due to the potential impact of the presentation on the Company's financial
statements in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 30, 2009, Bassett filed a
Form 12b-25 today indicating that the filing of the Form 10-Q will be delayed.

"We have been working diligently to resolve the questions brought forth by the
SEC as part of its standard three year review process. Naturally, the Company
wants to fully address the Commission's comments, and will endeavor to resolve
the comments by the end of the month, although we cannot predict with absolute
certainty when the resolution will occur," said J. Michael Daniel, interim CFO.

The retail and wholesale environment for home furnishings remains extremely
challenging. Despite the weak operating environment, the Company will report
that it was able to generate positive operating cash flow for the quarter.

"We remain focused on capital preservation," said Robert H. Spilman Jr.,
president and chief executive officer. "Although we have yet to see improvement
in incoming wholesale orders and retail sales, the Company remains committed to
adjusting its cost structure to operate within the context of these
unprecedented times. It is, meanwhile, gratifying to note that our report will
also show that we were able to increase cash and that we borrowed no money
during the quarter."

Certain of the statements in this release, particularly those preceded by,
followed by or including the words "will," "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "should," "estimates," or similar expressions, or those relating to
or anticipating financial results for periods beyond the end of the fourth
quarter of fiscal 2008, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. For those
statements, Bassett claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking
statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In
many cases, Bassett cannot predict what factors would cause actual results to
differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.
Expectations included in the forward-looking statements are based on preliminary
information as well as certain assumptions which management believes to be
reasonable at this time. The following important factors affect Bassett and
could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the
forward-looking statements: the effects of national and global economic or other
conditions and future events on the retail demand for home furnishings and the
ability of Bassett's customers and consumers to obtain credit; the delays or
difficulties in converting some of Bassett's non-operating assets to cash; and
the economic, competitive, governmental and other factors identified in
Bassett's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
forward-looking statement that Bassett makes speaks only as of the date of such
statement, and Bassett undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to
express any future trends or indication of future performance, unless expressed
as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.

(BSET-E)

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CONTACT: Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc.
Investors
J. Michael Daniel, Corporate, Controller and Interim CFO
(276) 629-6614
Media
Jay S. Moore, Dir. of Communications
(276) 629-6450