Working Mother magazine today named PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) one of the "Best Companies for Hourly Workers" for 2012, awarding those employers that have the best policies and programs for promoting women and a dynamic work life culture. Best Buy, Capital One, Hilton, Marriott and Target are among some of the companies that made the list.

"We're proud and honored to be recognized as a great employer for hourly working mothers," said PetSmart Chairman and CEO Bob Moran. "Many of our nearly 50,000 associates are working moms, and we know how important it is to offer them the flexibility, support and opportunities they need in order to be successful not just at work, but also at home."

The survey, conducted by the Working Mother Research Institute, found that women at the winning companies earned 56 percent of all promotions from hourly non-manager to non-exempt manager positions. One hundred percent of the winners offered their hourly workers personal and family health insurance benefits.

Jennifer Owens, Editorial Director of Working Mother Media, says, "This year's Best Companies exemplify best-practices workplaces and cultures to help female hourly workers thrive. Most of the companies use the 70-20-10 rule: Focus 70 percent of your time on getting on-the-job experience, 20 percent on developing internal relationships and networks and 10 percent on formal training."

Over the last year, the percentage of winning companies with formal compensation policies to reward managers who help hourly employees advance more than doubled, to 67 percent from 25 percent. A full 100 percent of the companies offer flexible work arrangements, and 79 percent of full-time hourly employees have access to them. On average, 73 percent of hourly workers at these Best Companies use flextime, up from 68 percent in 2011.

A majority of the Best Companies offer career advancement opportunities, including technology training and supervisor/team leader preparatory training. Nine out of 12 offer mentoring, career counseling and vocational skills training.

The full results of the WM Best Companies for Hourly Workers report can be found at workingmother.com/hourly.

About PetSmart

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company employs approximately 50,000 associates and operates more than 1,232 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, over 192 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities and is a leading online provider of pet supplies and pet care information (http://www.petsmart.com).

PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products; and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp SM day care services and pet adoption services. Since 1994, PetSmart Charities, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization and the largest funder of animal welfare efforts in North America, has provided more than $165 million in grants and programs benefiting animal welfare organizations. Through its in-store pet adoption partnership with PetSmart Charities®, PetSmart has helped save the lives of nearly 5 million pets.

About Working Mother Media

Working Mother magazine reaches 2.2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; WorkingMother.com (www.workingmother.com) gives working mothers @home and @work advice, solutions and ideas. This year marks the 27th anniversary of Working Mother's signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, and the tenth year of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women. Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (www.bonnier.com), includes the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE, www.nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (www.diversitybestpractices.com) and the Working Mother Research Institute. Working Mother Media's mission is to serve as a champion of culture change.

PetSmart, Inc.
Michelle Friedman, 623-587-2108
or
For Working Mother Media
Andrea Kaplan, 917-836-2741
andrea@andreakaplanpr.com