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Technology Stocks : Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rajiv who wrote (1864)	9/21/1999 9:27:00 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 2743

E-commerce firm Priceline expands to supermarkets STAMFORD, Conn., Sept 21 (Reuters) - Priceline.com Inc (Nasdaq:PCLN - news), the ''name-your-own-price'' Internet commerce firm, said on Tuesday it will expand its service in November to grocery stores and supermarkets in the New York City area. The Stamford, Conn.-based Priceline said it will license its technology to a privately held startup company, The Priceline.com WebHouse Club Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Priceline said it will initially take no equity ownership in its WebHouse affiliate, but it will receive royalties and warrants to acquire a majority interest under certain conditions. The WebHouse Club expects to raise $65 million in first-round financing from Vulcan Ventures Inc (the investment organization of Paul G. Allen), Wit Capital's Arista Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Walker Digital, Priceline said. More than 600 supermarkets and grocery stores so far have agreed to participate in the WebHouse Club network, which will launch in the New York City area on Nov. 1 and be rolled out nationally next year. Priceline shares were up $4 at $68.19 on heavy volume of 4.6 million shares in afternoon trading on Nasdaq. The company is comfortable with analysts' estimates of $430 million revenues for calendar 1999, said Jay Walker, Priceline's founder and vice chairman. ''Priceline currently is focussed on big-ticket, relatively low-frequency products,'' Walker said. ''After all, how often do you buy a mortgage, an airline ticket or a car?'' ''As a result, Priceline's customers tend to come relatively infrequently, (but) the average grocery shopper goes to the store 95 times a year.'' ''By bringing a high-velocity product to the Priceline product mix, Priceline can expect to enjoy a significant traffic increase on its site, and significant trial of the 'name your own price' model,'' Walker said. Among the stores that have joined the WebHouse Club network so far are Shop Rite, A&P, King Kullen, Waldbaum's, D'Agostino, Gristede's, and Sloan's.