Exhibit 31.1


  Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the
                           Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Michael D. Fisher, certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Stein Mart, Inc.;

2.      Based  on  my  knowledge,  this  report  does  not  contain  any  untrue
        statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary
        to make the statements made, in light  of the circumstances  under which
        such  statements  were  made, not misleading  with respect to the period
        covered by this report;

3.      Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and  other financial
        information  included in this  report,  fairly  present in  all material
        respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows
        of Stein Mart,  Inc.  as of, and for,  the  periods  presented  in  this
        report;

4.      The registrant's  other  certifying  officers and I  are responsible for
        establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls  and procedures (as
        defined  in  Exchange  Act  Rules  13a-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  for   the
        registrant and have:

        a.      Designed such  disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or  caused
                such  disclosure  controls  and procedures  to be designed under
                our supervision,  to ensure  that material  information relating
                to the registrant, including  its  consolidated subsidiaries, is
                made known to  us by others within  those entities, particularly
                during the period in which this report is being prepared;

        b.      Evaluated  the  effectiveness  of  the  registrant's  disclosure
                controls  and   procedures  and  presented  in  this  report our
                conclusions about  the effectiveness  of the disclosure controls
                and  procedures,  as of  the end of the period  covered  by this
                report based on such evaluation; and

5.      The registrant's other certifying  officers and I have disclosed,  based
        on our most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control   over  financial
        reporting,  to the  registrant's  auditors  and  the audit  committee of
        registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing  the equivalent
        function):

        a.      All  significant  deficiencies  and material  weaknesses  in the
                design  or  operation  of  internal   controls  over   financial
                reporting which  are reasonably  likely to adversely  affect the
                registrant's ability  to record, process,  summarize  and report
                financial information; and

        b.      Any fraud,  whether or  not material,  that involves  management
                or  other  employees  who  have   a  significant  role   in  the
                registrant's internal controls over financial reporting.




Date:   September 15, 2003                 /s/ Michael D. Fisher
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Michael D. Fisher
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer