More major good news, but no action results.
Prime Hospitality Corp. to Install Automated MBE Business Express Units to Enhance Business
Services Offered to Its Guests
Plans call for Prime's AmeriSuites locations to feature MBE Business Express self-serve, 24-hour, credit card-activated business centers marketed by Mail Boxes
Etc. and USA Technologies
SAN DIEGO and WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 1998--Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) and USA Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:USTT - news), today
announced an agreement with Prime Hospitality Corp. (NYSE:PDQ - news) to begin a pilot program for installing MBE Business Express centers in Prime's
AmeriSuites properties.
MBE Business Express features 24-hour, credit card-activated, self-service business systems for business travelers and consumers who need quick access to
personal computers, printers, copiers, fax machines and laptop workstations. IBM personal computer workstations, featuring Microsoft software, will provide
Internet and e-mail services.
Under the terms of the agreement, MBE Business Express will be immediately installed at five of Prime's AmeriSuites locations. Plans call for an additional 95 units
to be installed over the next 12 months, pending the success of the 90-day pilot program. Prime Hospitality is one of the largest hotel management companies in the
nation, and its AmeriSuites brand is one of the fastest growing all-suite hotel chains in America. Prime Hospitality currently operates 70 AmeriSuites locations
nationwide, and has plans to expand to 100 locations by year-end with a goal of 200 by the year 2000.
''We have always prided ourselves on the level of business services offered to our guests at AmeriSuites. The MBE Business Express at our AmeriSuites properties
elevates the level of guest business services offered,'' said John Leavitt, senior vice president, marketing, of Prime Hospitality Corp. ''This decision further
demonstrates our commitment to servicing the business needs of our customers.''
''This is an exciting opportunity for us to provide Prime's guests with world-class business services,'' said James Amos, president and chief executive officer of Mail
Boxes Etc. ''Today's business travelers face incredible work demands. MBE Business Express makes working on the road easier for millions of business travelers
and 'road warriors.' Now AmeriSuites' guests will have peace of mind knowing that, at any hour, they will have access to the equipment they need to get their jobs
done, all with the simple swipe of a credit card.''
''AmeriSuites now has the ability to meet the business service needs of their core clientele, business travelers, by providing a user-friendly, fully automated business
center,'' said George R. Jensen, Jr., president and chief executive officer of USA Technologies. ''By utilizing MBE Business Express, AmeriSuites guests can
accomplish their business activities without leaving the comfort of their hotel.''
MBE Business Express' office and computer equipment is activated by a simple swipe of a major credit card. The MBE Business Express units feature a direct
dial-through telephone to a nearby Mail Boxes Etc. location for additional services and support, such as color-copying projects, binding, packing and shipping. IBM
installs, services and maintains MBE Business Express units and operates the customer support service.
MBE Business Express unstaffed business centers are placed in convenient travel locales to provide busy business travelers with the equipment they need to get
their job done while ''on the road.'' MBE Business Express units are currently installed in select locations of four of the top-five hotel chains in the United States,
and endorsement agreements are in place with the corporate headquarters of Choice Hotels International, Promus and the Best Western hotel chains. In addition,
MBE Business Express is a business center solution for industry-leading Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites. Other target markets for the MBE Business Express
include mass merchandise outlets as well as convenience stores, convention centers, airports, colleges, universities, military bases, supermarkets and banks.
Mail Boxes Etc., a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Office Products Company, is the world's largest franchisor of retail business communication and postal service
centers. There are more that 3,500 MBE Centers operating worldwide, with master licensing agreements in place for the development of the MBE business in 58
countries around the world. In the United States, MBE centers are owned and operated by licensed franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc., USA, Inc. Outside the United
States, MBE centers are owned and operated by master licensees or their franchisees. MBE maintains a Web site at mbe.com .
USA Technologies is a leading owner and licenser of networked credit card-activated control systems for the personal computer, photocopier, facsimile and laptop
printing capabilities. The company's proprietary technologies make available unattended, point-of-sale control systems for credit card payments.
U.S. Office Products Company (USOP) (NASDAQ:OFIS - news) is one of the fastest growing suppliers of a broad range of office products and business services
to corporate, commercial, industrial and educational customers. USOP operates in the United States, as well as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United
Kingdom, selling a full range of more than 34,000 office and educational products and services to its customers, and currently has over 20,000 employees. In
November 1997, USOP acquired Mail Boxes Etc.
AmeriSuites is a trademarked proprietary brand of Prime Hospitality Corp., (NYSE:PDQ - news) a leading independent hotel owner/operator headquartered in
Fairfield, N.J. Prime Hospitality Corp. owns or manages 150 hotels throughout the United States under the propriety names AmeriSuites, HomeGate Studios and
Suites and Wellesley Inns, and under franchise agreements with national hotel chains including Marriott, Radisson, Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Ramada
and Howard Johnson.
Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein
contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including but not limited
to product acceptance, economic, competitive, governmental, results of litigation, technological and/or other factors, which are outside the control of the Company.
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