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                                                           OMB APPROVAL
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                                                  OMB Number:         3235-0104
                                                  Expires:     December 31, 2001
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                                                  hours per response........0.5
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                     U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 3

             INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

     Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

(Print or Type Responses)
________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

     Oak Hill Securities Fund II, L.P.
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   (Last)                            (First)              (Middle)

     201 Main Street, Suite 2415
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                                    (Street)

     Fort Worth                      TX                       76102
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   (City)                            (State)                (Zip)

________________________________________________________________________________
2.   Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)

     12/28/01
________________________________________________________________________________
3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)


________________________________________________________________________________
4.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

     Stage Stores, Inc. ("STGS")
________________________________________________________________________________
5.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [_]  Director                             [_]  10% Owner
     [_]  Officer (give title below)           [X]  Other (specify below)**
________________________________________________________________________________
6.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)


________________________________________________________________________________
7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing  (Check applicable line)

     [X]  Form Filed by One Reporting Person
     [_]  Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person

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             TABLE I -- NON-DERIVATIVE SECURITIES BENEFICIALLY OWNED
================================================================================


                                                                 3. Ownership Form:
                                      2. Amount of Securities       Direct (D) or
1. Title of Security                     Beneficially Owned         Indirect (I)       4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
   (Instr. 4)                            (Instr. 4)                 (Instr. 5)            (Instr. 4)
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Common Stock,
par value $0.01 per share                    1,546,879                (D)
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Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

*    If the Form is filed by more than one  Reporting  Person,  see  Instruction
     5(b)(v).
**   May be deemed a member of a Section 13(d) group that owns more than 10% of
     the Issuer's outstanding Common Stock.

POTENTIAL PERSONS WHO ARE TO RESPOND TO THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION CONTAINED
IN THIS FORM ARE NOT REQUIRED TO RESPOND UNLESS THE FORM DISPLAYS A CURRENTLY
VALID OMB NUMBER.

                                                                          (Over)
                                                                 SEC 1473 (3-99)



FORM 3 (continued)

              TABLE II -- DERIVATIVE SECURITIES BENEFICIALLY OWNED
         (E.G., PUTS, CALLS, WARRANTS, OPTIONS, CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES)

================================================================================


                                                                                                        5. Owner-
                                                    3. Title and Amount of Securities                      ship
                                                       Underlying Derivative Security                      Form of
                         2. Date Exercisable           (Instr. 4)                                          Derivative
                            and Expiration Date     ---------------------------------    4. Conver-        Security:
                            (Month/Day/Year)                               Amount           sion or        Direct      6. Nature of
                         ----------------------                            or               Exercise       (D) or         Indirect
                         Date       Expira-                                Number           Price of       Indirect       Beneficial
1. Title of Derivative   Exer-      tion                                   of               Derivative     (I)            Ownership
   Security (Instr. 4)   cisable    Date            Title                  Shares           Security       (Instr. 5)     (Instr. 5)
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====================================================================================================================================


Explanation of Responses:  The Reporting Person may be deemed a member of a
Section 13(d) group that owns more than 10% of the Issuer's outstanding Common
Stock. However, the Reporting Person disclaims such group membership, and this
report shall not be deemed an admission that the reporting person is a member of
a Section 13(d) group that owns more than 10% of the Issuer's outstanding Common
Stock for purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.


Oak Hill Securities Fund II, L.P.

By:  Oak Hill Securities GenPar II, L.P., its general partner

     By: Oak Hill Securities MGP II, Inc., its general
         partner


        /s/ Glenn R. August                                  January 9, 2002
---------------------------------------------            -----------------------
      **Signature of Reporting Person                             Date
        Name:   Glenn R. August
        Title:  President

**   Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal
     Violations.

     See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained
in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently
valid OMB Number.

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