Angelica Completes Sale of Customer Contracts and Other Assets from Columbia , IL Facility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. LOUIS , MISSOURI
SEPTEMBER 2, 2005

Angelica Completes Sale of Customer Contracts and Other Assets from Columbia , IL Facility

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (September 2, 2005) — Angelica Corporation (NYSE:AGL), today announced that it has sold to Faultless Laundry Company, customer contracts serviced by its Columbia, Illinois facility.. The sale includes other selected assets associated with servicing those customers. Operations at that plant will be discontinued once all service activities are transitioned from Angelica's facility to the Faultless facility in St. Louis . This transition is expected to be complete by the end of September 2005. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Notice was previously provided on August 15 to 66 employees at the Columbia plant informing them of their layoff status. Notice has been issued today to the remaining employees.

Commenting on the transaction, Steve O'Hara, Angelica's CEO said, “While our goal is to build the leading national healthcare linen services provider, our growth must be accomplished in a profitable manner. The Columbia , Illinois facility, which primarily services the St. Louis area, has not been profitable for some time and shows little near term potential to become profitable, especially given rising energy costs. In addition, this plant is on the outskirts of our other plant clusters. The decision to close our plant in our hometown was difficult, but the only rational decision.”

He continued, “ We appreciate the hard work of our associates in Columbia . We wish them well in their future endeavors and have made arrangements for assistance in helping them find new jobs.“

Angelica Corporation, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AGL, is a leading provider of textile rental and linen management services to the U.S. healthcare market. More information about Angelica is available on its website, www.angelica.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Any forward-looking statements made in this document reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competitive and general economic conditions, the ability to retain current customers and to add new customers in competitive market environments, competitive pricing in the marketplace, delays in the shipment of orders, ability to mitigate work disruptions at our plants arising from a union's corporate campaign against the Company, availability of labor at appropriate rates, availability and cost of energy an water supplies, the cost of workers' compensation and healthcare benefits, the ability to attract and retain key personnel, the ability of the Company to recover its seller note and avoid future lease obligations as part of its sale of Life Uniform, the ability of the Company to accomplish its strategy of redirecting its resources to its healthcare linen management business in a timely and financially advantageous manner, unusual or unexpected cash needs for operations or capital transactions, the effectiveness of certain expense reduction initiatives, the ability to obtain financing in required amounts and at appropriate rates and terms, the ability to identify, negotiate, fund, consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other factors which may be identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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