Hastings Holiday Revenues Increase 10.6%; Comp-Store Revenues
Exceed Expectations
AMARILLO, Texas, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Hastings Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAST), a leading multimedia entertainment superstore retailer, today announced that total revenues for the five-week Christmas holiday period ended Jan. 2, 1999, increased 10.6% to a record $63,382,000 from $57,315,000 for the five-week period ended Jan. 3, 1998. Comparable-store revenues for the current five weeks were up 3.2% from a strong 12.9% increase in comparable- store revenues for the like period one year ago.
"Hastings' record revenues for the 1998 Christmas season were ahead of expectations, including favorable comparable-store revenues versus our exceptionally strong 1997 Christmas season," said John H. Marmaduke, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our customers responded very positively during the season to Hastings' significant entertainment and seasonal product offerings."
In addition, Hastings announced that the December 1998 sales of the company's gift cards jumped over 50% from the same period last year, reaching $7.5 million for the month. Hastings does not recognize revenues from gift cards until the recipients of the cards visit the company's superstores to redeem them for merchandise or video rentals.
"The very positive response of our customers to Hastings' gift card offering for the 1998 holiday season is another verification of our customers' enthusiastic acceptance of the Hastings multimedia retailing concept, with its wide assortment of entertainment products offered in small- to medium-sized communities," added Marmaduke. "We were especially pleased with the growth in this gift card category, because the redemption process will generate additional, often new, customer traffic in our superstores beginning in January. Additionally, card redemptions often create incremental sales because many recipients spend more than the face value of their cards."
The company added that holiday sales patterns were consistent with those of recent years. Last-minute shoppers created a significant jump in sales in each of the company's entertainment categories. The holiday selling season was highlighted by excellent sales from the following new release music selections: Jewel's Spirit, Offspring's Americana, Dixie Chicks' Wide Open Spaces, Metallica's Garage Inc., and Garth Brooks' Double Live. Book selections that sold well included Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation, Peter Jennings' Century, Stephen King's Bag of Bones and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
Founded in 1968, Hastings is a leading multimedia entertainment retailer that combines the sale of books, music, software, periodicals and videotapes with the rental of videotapes and video games in a superstore format. The company opened twelve new superstores in 1998 and currently operates 129 superstores, averaging 21,200 square feet, primarily in small to medium- sized markets in the Midwestern and Western United States.
Hastings also operates www.hastingsentertainment.com, one of the largest fully integrated multimedia entertainment e-commerce Internet Web sites. The site offers a broad selection of books, music, software, videotapes and video games to the electronic global marketplace at prices equal to or less than other electronic retailers. General financial information about Hastings is available to investors and customers via the Internet at this site.
Certain statements set forth above are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. The forward-looking statements set forth above are subject to the factors and uncertainties set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 as filed with the SEC and declared effective on June 11, 1998.
SOURCE Hastings Entertainment, Inc.
/CONTACT: Dennis McGill, Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial
Officer of Hastings Entertainment, Inc., 806-351-2300, ext. 6000/
/Web site: hastingsentertainment.com
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