Electronics Boutique Splits Off EBWorld.com
-- Unique Website Hits Exceeded 10 million in Fiscal 1999
-- New Call Center Slated to Open in Summer 1999
WEST CHESTER, Pa., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Electronics Boutique Holdings
Corp. (Nasdaq: ELBO), the world's largest specialty retailer of electronic
games, today announced that it has established EBWorld.com, Inc. as a separate
e-commerce division. Mr. Seth Levy, Electronics Boutique's CIO, will head the
new division as President and will report directly to Joseph J. Firestone,
President and CEO of Electronics Boutique. Mr. John Brittell, who has risen
through the sales ranks during his 13 years with the Company, will serve as
Director of Interactive Services and report directly to Mr. Levy.
The creation of EBWorld.com should enable the Company to accelerate the
growth of its e-commerce business and build upon the success of its Internet
website, www.ebworld.com. The site generated sales growth in excess of 1,200%
year over year for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 and traffic has increased
steadily since launching the improved site in September 1998. During fiscal
1999, there were more than 10 million unique visits to the site, including
more than 3.5 million in the fourth quarter.
To support the continued anticipated growth in its e-commerce business,
Electronics Boutique is in the process of establishing a new customer service
call center in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is scheduled to open this summer. The
new customer service call center will receive orders, answer emails and
provide customer service for Electronics Boutique's web customer service, mail
order and in-store support functions.
"We believe that Seth's strong merchandising background combined with his
technological expertise make him the perfect candidate to head EBWorld.com,"
commented Joseph J. Firestone. "Growth in e-commerce sales is a natural
progression for our company especially given the Internet savvy profile of our
customers for electronic games, software and related products. The creation
of this new division reflects our commitment to fully realizing the benefits
of this expanding new sales channel. We continue to increase dollars spent on
the promotion of our site to increase customer traffic and believe that
Internet driven sales could increase to more than $16 million this year,
compared with $4.3 million in fiscal 1999."
Electronics Boutique is the leading specialty retailer of video and
computer games and also sells video game hardware, PC productivity software
and accessories. The company currently operates 547 stores in 45 states,
Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and South Korea, primarily under the names
Electronics Boutique and Stop 'N Save Software.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Electronics
Boutique ("EB") is including this statement for the express purpose of
availing itself of the protections of the safe harbor provided by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward-
looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These
risks include, but are not limited to, EB's dependence on the continued
introduction of new and enhanced video games and PC hardware and software;
the cyclical nature of the video game market; the rapid technological changes
which occur in the video game and PC industry; EB's ability to open and
operate new stores on a profitable basis; the intensely competitive nature of
the electronic game industry and its rapid changes in consumer preferences and
frequent new product introductions; the seasonal nature of the retail
industry; EB's dependence on its suppliers for products; risks inherent to
conducting international operations; and consumer spending patterns and
prevailing economic conditions. Please refer to Electronics Boutique's
registration statement on Form S-1 on file with the SEC for a more detailed
discussion of these and other risks that could cause results to differ
materially.
SOURCE Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp.
-0- 04/07/99
/CONTACT: John R. Panichello, Chief Financial Officer of Electronics
Boutique, 610-430-8100; or General, Kelly Lofts, Analyst, Lynn Sawyer-Landau,
or Media, Alan Goldsand, 212-661-8030, all of The Financial Relations Board/
/Web site: ebworld.com
(ELBO)
CO: Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp.; EBWorld.com, Inc.
ST: Pennsylvania
IN: REA MLM CPR
SU: |
