Keystone Fulfillment, Subsidiary of Hanover Direct, Secures E-Commerce Fulfillment Partnership With KBkids.com
WEEHAWKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 1999--Hanover Direct, Inc. (AMEX: HNV)
announced today that KBkids.com has contracted with Keystone Fulfillment, the Company's
one-stop e-commerce services provider, to handle fulfillment and processing for
KBkids.com, a new internet joint venture between BrainPlay.com and Consolidated Stores
Corporation (NYSE: CNS).
Under the terms of the agreement, Keystone will provide Internet order fulfillment and
processing, warehousing and distribution services for KBkids.com, which is scheduled to
relaunch this summer. In addition, Keystone may be called upon to meet the individual
demands of KBkids.com's holiday shoppers through its call center and specialized
gift-wrapping and personalization services.
"Our agreement with KBkids.com further demonstrates Keystone's aggressive role in
becoming a market leader in e-commerce outsourcing. The value added services the Keystone
platform can provide to name brand retailers are consistent with the higher level of
shopping experience their customers expect. This agreement reaffirms that Keystone can
deliver not only capacity, but also the seamless systems integration, customized service
and speed required for the growing Internet retailing business needs," stated Rakesh K.
Kaul, President and CEO of Hanover Direct, Inc.
"KBkids.com is fully committed to strategic and innovative retailing strategies that
benefit our customers as well as our business," said Srikant Srinivasan, CEO of
KBkids.com. "Partnering with Keystone is an important piece of our strategy as we move
toward becoming the category leader in online children's retailing and customer care. The
rigorous demands of our retailing business are well matched by Keystone's diversified
fulfillment services. Together, KBkids.com and Keystone have the expertise and
technological capacity to meet every order placed in the 1999 holiday season and beyond."
Keystone, launched last year, provides robust, easy-to-install e-commerce solutions
services to companies wanting to enter into e-commerce. Its unique multi-title,
multi-brand systems platform has the versatility and flexibility to handle a wide range
of product categories in a 24/7 service mode. Its roster currently includes 16 companies
such as L.L. Knickerbocker Co., The National Geographic Society, United Retail Group, and
www.mercata.com, recently launched by Mercata, Inc., a privately held company with
funding from Vulcan Ventures Inc. Keystone is also the third party fulfillment services
vendor Excite exclusively promotes to others wanting to participate in its shopping
channel.
"The toy industry is one of the more complex in the fulfillment arena. The quick
response built into Keystone's state-of-the-art systems platform will enable KBkids.com
to be up and running with the flexibility, scalability and expandability needed during
peak buying seasons, like the holidays, when it's crucial to meet customer expectations
and delivery requirements. Our 'plug-and-play' platform has been designed with the
ability to allow us to 'turn-on-a-dime' as we respond to our customers' requests," stated
Richard M. Metzler, President of Keystone Fulfillment, Inc.
Keystone is able to provide 'front-end' logistical services required by e-commerce
companies such as telemarketing, order processing, credit card transaction processing,
customer database management and systems programming and interface support plus a
comprehensive range of fulfillment, order management, inventory control and web
marketing. It can provide new Internet players with virtually every resource they need,
from web site creation to creative marketing to promotional/catalog development to
structured financing, to be successful e-commerce entrepreneurs. Through its association
with the Hanover Direct portfolio of catalogs and associated web sites, as well as a
growing roster of third-party clients, Keystone has obtained expertise in a broad range
of product categories such as home fashions and home improvements, men's and women's
apparel, and gifts.
Hanover Direct, Inc. (AMEX: HNV), and its business units, provide quality, branded
merchandise through a portfolio of catalogs and e-commerce platforms to consumers, as
well as a comprehensive range of Internet, e-commerce, and fulfillment services to
businesses. The brand marketing division is comprised of the Company's catalog and
e-commerce web site portfolio of home fashions, apparel and gift brands, including
Domestications, The Company Store, Colonial Garden Kitchens, Kitchen & Home,
Improvements, The Safety Zone, Silhouettes, Tweeds, International Male, Austad's,
Undergear, and Gump's By Mail. The Company also owns Gump's, a retail store based in San
Francisco. Each brand can be accessed on the Internet individually by name. The web
services division is comprised of the Company's Internet marketing services group,
systems platform, fulfillment and telemarketing and third party fulfillment service
vendor, Keystone Fulfillment Inc. (www.keystonefulfillment.com). Information on Hanover
Direct, including each of its divisions, can be accessed on the Internet at
www.hanoverdirect.com.
CONTACT: Hanover Direct, Inc., Weehawken
Brian C. Harriss, 201/272-3224
Sr. VP - Chief Financial Officer
or
AGG International, Public Relations, New York
Paula Zwerdling, 212/869-8230
Managing Director
paula@aggintl.com
07:03 EDT JULY 21, 1999 |
