Subject:
CD Plus.com completes acquisition of Urban Sound Exchange and
announces major used music campaign in stores and on Internet
Date:
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 15:40:05 -0400
From:
portfolio@newswire.ca
To:
"Portfolio Email User" <portfolio@newswire.ca>
Attention Business Editors:
CD Plus.com completes acquisition of Urban Sound Exchange and announces major used music campaign in stores and on Internet
TORONTO, July 5 /CNW/ - Signature Brands Limited (``Signature Brands')
is pleased to announce that CD Plus.com Inc. has completed its acquisition of
the Urban Sound Exchange chain of used music stores and has announced that the
Company is launching a major campaign into used music that will include both
new stores and a new Internet site under the banner CD Plus Xchange. The press
release from CD Plus.com Inc. is attached hereto as Schedule ``A' for further
information.
On May 17, 1999, Signature Brands announced that it had signed a
definitive agreement to acquire CD Plus.com Inc. subject to certain closing
conditions, including the approval of Signature Brands shareholders at the
Annual and Special Meeting to be held on July 28, 1999.
About Signature Brands Limited
Signature Brands Limited is a publicly traded company. Its shares trade
on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the Symbol SBX. In addition, there are
warrants outstanding exchangeable into common shares at 50 cents that trade on
the Canadian Dealer Network under the symbol SBZB.wt.
The information herein has not been approved by regulatory authorities.
CD PLUS.COM INC. COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF URBAN SOUND EXCHANGE
AND LAUNCHES USED MUSIC CAMPAIGN
TORONTO, July 5, 1999
CD Plus.com Inc. (``CD Plus') is pleased to announce that it has
completed the acquisition of Urban Sound Exchange (``USE'), Canada's leading
used music retailer with 17 locations and the Internet site
www.urbansound.com. Started in Nova Scotia seven years ago, USE operates nine
corporate locations and eight franchise locations that carry over 40,000 music
titles at exceptional prices.
The closing of this acquisition represents only the first step in CD
Plus's major expansion into the used music marketplace. The second part of
this expansion will see CD Plus re-brand the Urban Sound Internet site as ``CD
Plus Xchange' and upgrade the site to the level of CD Plus's leading Canadian
music retail site www.cdplus.com.
Further, over the course of the next year CD Plus will convert all of its
23 street store locations to include used music and will open an additional
10-15 locations, using a new music store concept that will combine both used
and new music in an upscale customer friendly environment. The first of these
new concept music stores opened this month in Waterloo, Ontario. These new
concept stores, operating under the CD Plus Xchange banner, will offer a large
catalogue of between 5,000 and 10,000 used music titles at low prices as well
as a wide selection of current new releases, posters and accessories. The
Company plans to have between 40 and 50 locations offering used music within
one year.
Used music is an undeveloped market in Canada and CD Plus plans to
capitalise on the lack of any major competition to capture a major portion of
this highly profitable marketplace. This expansion will also help to solidify
the Company's position as one of the top music retailers in the country.
Unlike new music, used music is expected to experience high growth rates over
the next two years and provides the added benefit of high gross margins and
extremely high customer loyalty.
CD Plus will also set up its 100+ mall locations across Canada as used
music `buying centres' to ensure that its used music stores always have high
levels of quality product in stock and to promote the use of the used music
Internet site. As an added benefit, these `buying centres' will spur
additional new music sales through the ability to offer new music customers
trade-in discounts.
CD Plus will implement the advanced USE P.O.S. systems and procedures
that enables a location to effectively purchase and control inventory via a
centralized database through the accumulation of sales data. This database
also forms the base of information for the used music Internet site that will
operate in conjunction with CD Plus's new music leading Internet site
www.cdplus.com.
Used music offers the tremendous opportunity for CD Plus to capitalize on
its leading Internet presence as the Internet is ideally suited to providing
consumers with the search capabilities they need to find both popular and
obscure used music titles at prices well below that of new music. This summer,
the existing USE Internet site will be renamed CD Plus Xchange and will be
linked to CD Plus's new music site to offer all customers access to a combined
new and used inventory that is available no where else in Canada. As with its
new music site, CD Plus Xchange will also offer free shipping to any of the
Company's store locations allowing the customer to receive an even greater
level of savings.
About CD Plus.com Inc.
CD Plus.com is a leading Canadian retailer of music in Canada, operating
150 stores in eight provinces and the Yukon Territory, as well as Canada's
leading retail music Internet site www.cdplus.com. CD Plus.com's stores
operate under the banners of CD Plus, AVE Entertainment, Big K, Urban Sound,
and others. It is CD Plus's intention to continue to invest heavily both in
its Internet presence and in its used music expansion. As a part of this
expansion CD Plus is in the process of completing a reverse takeover of
Signature Brands Limited, a Company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It
is anticipated that this takeover will be completed prior to the end of July.
For more information, please contact:
Lee Sienna, President and CEO, CD Plus.com Inc.
905-629-9255
-0- 07/05/1999
For further information: Jim Fisher, Director, (416) 946-5591; Lee Sienna, President and CEO, CD Plus.com Inc., (905) 629-9255
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