Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp. Goes National With the Launch of 6 New Stores
SAN MARCOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 1999--
Rapid Expansion Increases Number of Stores by 24% in the US, in
Addition to Newly Launched First-Ever Major Toy Website
www.webjumbo.de in Europe (Germany)
OTC SYMBOLS: Common Stock - PLCO
Series E Preferred Stock - PLCOP
Series E Preferred Stock Warrants - PLCOW
Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp. ("Play Co. Toys") today announced the completion of the final six stores in its 1999 planned expansion bringing the number of stores to 32 and, in addition reaffirmed its enthusiasm for its new German language website, www.webjumbo.de, the first major toy and children oriented website in Europe.
Richard Brady, President of the Company stated, "We have opened six new stores in the past two months. The store on Pier 39 in San Francisco was opened last month and five other stores opened this month. The additional store openings included two stores in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, two stores in the Houston, Texas area and a store in Mission Viejo, California. The North Carolina locations mark our first presence on the East Coast and establishes us as a nationwide retailer. We now have 32 stores in our chain."
"After six months of working on our European strategy, we are pleased to be the first major U.S. toy retailer to market within the European common market. Webjumbo.de has been designed to serve the German language market. We have implemented plans, contracts and agreements with Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom (T-Online), Yahoo (NASDAQ: "YHOO"), Alta Vista (NASDAQ: "CMGI") and other Internet providers in Germany. Our distribution center in Holland and call center in Ireland have been set up for full scale distribution throughout continental Europe including Italy, Spain, and France. We are positioned to move into those additional markets in the next six months."
"In addition to our webjumbo.de site in Germany, we are working to develop a unique web site in the U.S. This site is being designed to be the low price leader in toys on the Internet. Our U.S. site will compete with cyberspace e-tailers such as e-toys (NASDAQ: "ETYS")and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: "AMZN"). We believe that the efficiencies provided by the sharing of inventory and overhead cost, which is already in place, between our brick and mortar business and our Internet business will allow us to maintain retail pricing below that of e-toys and Amazon.com. Our strategy of opening new retail locations in tourist areas helps insulate our retail stores from the effects of e-Commerce. We believe that a combination of e-commerce and brick and mortar stores is the perfect solution to doing business, now and in the future."
"Additionally, we would like to note that the planned public offering of a minority interest in our subsidiary company, Toys International.COM, Inc., remains on track. This public offering is expected to take place in November on a European exchange to complement our web.jumbo web-site."
Play Co. Toys is a toy retailer with 32 stores located in Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. The Company operates under the Play Co. Toys, Toys International and Toy Co. tradenames. Play Co. Toys specializes in offering educational, specialty, collectible, and traditional toys.
Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts may be considered forward looking information with respect to plans, projections, or future performance of Play Co. Toys as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
CONTACT:
Play Co. Toys and Entertainment
Mr. Jim Frakes
760/471 4505 |
