From 4/12/99 Philadelphia Inquirer,as I am sudying ELBO now,I am not a stock holder
His information background gives a boost to e-commerce
Electronics Boutique, the West Chester game software retailer that last week created EBWorld.com
Inc., has named chief information officer Seth Levy president of the new e-commerce division.
Levy, who will retain his chief information officer title at the parent company, said EBWorld.com
was formed after it became apparent that retailing on the World Wide Web was a hit with shoppers.
Revenues from the Web site at ebworld.com were $4.3 million in the last fiscal year, he
said. "That would be, by far, our largest store, if you consider it a store," he said in an interview.
In fact, Levy said, "on any given day, it's doing the business of up to 10 stores." The company is
projecting Internet sales of $16 million for the current fiscal year.
Levy, 41, was born in the New York City area and grew up in California. He worked 18 years for
what became May Department Stores Co., holding corporate positions in Los Angeles, Washington,
New York and St. Louis. He came to Electronics Boutique two years ago.
In addition to his new job, Levy was promoted to senior vice president of Electronics Boutique. He
will continue to report to president and chief executive Joseph J. Firestone.
"I'm going to wear two hats, and I have committed to spending the bulk of my time devoted to the
new venture," Levy said. "I am fortunate to have a very strong information-services group backing
me up."
EBWorld.com will initially employ about 20 people in West Chester, Levy said. In the summer, the
company will open a customer call center in Las Vegas that is expected to employ 50 to 60 people
by year's end, and eventually as many as 300, he said.
John Brittell, a 13-year Electronics Boutique sales executive, has been named director of
interactive services and will report to Levy.
"Our hope is to build a self-sustaining business that continues to lead the pack in our retail segment,"
said Levy.
Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp., with about 3,500 employees, operates 547 stores under the
names Electronics Boutique and Stop 'N Save Software.
- Reid Kanaley
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