Trans World Entertainment and Juno Sign Exclusive Music Retailer Agreement: Trans World To Market Music, Videos, And Electronic Games To Juno's Millions of Members
NEW YORK/ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 1999--Trans World Entertainment
Corporation (Nasdaq: TWMC), a leading retailer of entertainment products, and Juno Online
Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: JWEB), a leading provider of Internet-related services, today
announced that they have signed an agreement for Trans World Entertainment to market
entertainment products to Juno's millions of members through its e-commerce site,
TWEC.COM. The alliance provides TWEC.COM with exclusive rights to sell CDs and tapes over
the Juno service, and non-exclusive rights to sell videos, DVDs, electronic games, and
related accessories.
TWEC.COM will advertise its entertainment products to users of Juno's Internet
services through a coordinated campaign of interstitial, pop-up, and banner ads.
Additional placements will include sponsor and partner blocks on the home page of Juno's
portal site (www.juno.com), sponsor blocks in the site's entertainment section, and links
to TWEC.COM content at various other locations. To fully capitalize on Juno's subscriber
base--more than 7.2 million total Juno accounts have been created since 1996--TWEC.COM
will implement a survey of the Juno member base to establish consumer preferences and
target subscribers with specific offers and promotions that match their listening choices.
Robert J. Higgins, chairman and chief executive officer of Trans World Entertainment,
said, "We're very excited about this relationship and recognize that Juno's position as a
leading ISP will provide us with broad exposure to our target audience with specific
interests in entertainment. This will offer us a significant new retail channel for our
music, video, games, and DVD product lines."
"When choosing which entertainment retailer to partner with, one of our priorities was
to maximize the value we could offer our subscribers," said Jordan Birnbaum, Juno's
senior vice president of business development. "Trans World came out on top because of
the sheer size of their inventory, and because their customer support system is one of
the best in the business. We wanted Juno members who had a question about the services
offered by the partner to know they could get answers as quickly as Juno answers its own
members' questions."
In addition, Trans World Entertainment and Juno plan to develop "members only"
programs to enhance the affiliate relationship, such as promotions at Trans World
Entertainment retail stores, coupon distribution, concert information, and special
discounts.
About Trans World Entertainment
Trans World Entertainment is the leading music retailer in the United States,
operating 969 retail stores in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as
well as an e-commerce site, www.twec.com. Mall locations include Record Town, Camelot
Music, The Wall, Saturday Matinee and F.Y.E. Freestanding locations include Coconuts
Music and Movies, Strawberries Music, Spec's and Planet Music.
About The Web's Entertainment Center (TWEC.COM)
TWEC.COM is the online hub for Trans World Entertainment's retail stores. With
worldwide distribution spanning 16 countries in addition to the United States, the site
features all of the music CDs and cassettes, video games, DVD and VHS (PAL and NTSC) home
videos that are available at its retail stores, and more. TWEC.COM is home to Trans
World's "On Stage" series, featuring live concerts, online chats, in-store artist
appearance schedules, in-studio performances and entertainment media that is on-demand.
About Juno Online Services, Inc.
Juno Online Services, Inc. is a provider of Internet-related services to millions of
computer users throughout the United States. The company offers several levels of
service, ranging from basic dial-up Internet e-mail--which is provided to the end user
for free--to full, competitively priced access to the World Wide Web. Since the launch of
Juno's basic e-mail service in April 1996, more than 7.2 million total Juno accounts have
been created. Juno's revenues are derived primarily from the subscription fees charged
for certain billable services, from the sale of advertising, and from the direct sale of
products to Juno subscribers.
Certain statements in this report set forth management's intentions, plans, beliefs,
expectations or predictions of the future based on current facts and analyses. Actual
results may differ materially from those indicated in such statements. Additional
information on factors that may affect the business and financial results of TWEC.COM can
be found in filings of TWEC.COM with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking information. Any
forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, including without
limitation any statements as to future events or future financial results of Juno, may be
significantly and materially impacted by risks and uncertainties. In evaluating such
statements, readers should specifically consider various factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from those indicated, including without limitation
factors described in Juno's reports and documents filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Trans World Entertainment Corporation
Jim Litwak, Executive Vice President of Merchandising
518/452-1248 ext. 7240
or
The MWW Group
Media Relations:
Charlotte Ostor, 201/507-9500
costor@mww.com
Investor Relations:
Robert Ferris
rferris@mww.com
or
Juno Online Services
Becky Yeamans, 212/597 9005
pr@support.juno.com
or
Edelman PR Worldwide
Kate Kennedy, 212/704 4520
pr@support.juno.com
09:22 EDT AUGUST 24, 1999 |
