OK, thanks. News today on ASFD which is gapping it big time:
Amazon.com Announces Multi-Million Dollar Marketing and Strategic Alliance With
and Minority Investment
in Ashford.com
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
SEATTLE and HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1999--Amazon.com
(Nasdaq:AMZN), the leading online retailer and Ashford.com
(Nasdaq:ASFD), the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium
products, today announced a multi-million dollar marketing initiative
and a strategic alliance in a number of luxury product categories,
including diamonds, watches, sunglasses, and writing instruments.
The companies also today announced that Amazon.com will make a
minority investment in Ashford.com. In exchange for the investment and
the marketing relationship, Amazon.com will hold approximately 16.6%
of Ashford.com's outstanding common stock upon the closing of the
transaction.
As part of the marketing alliance, Ashford.com will offer
Amazon.com's customers a wide selection of products through December
31, 2000, which will include the 1999 and 2000 holiday seasons.
Ashford.com will offer special promotions and unique benefits to
Amazon.com's 13 million customers, who may be interested in buying
luxury and premium products online.
The Ashford.com luxury retail site carries a vast selection of
diamonds and more than 12,000 watches, designer jewelry, leather
accessories, sunglasses, fragrance, bath and body products, ties,
scarves, and writing instruments. The selection represents more than
300 leading and well-known brands, such as TAG Heuer, Omega, and
Montblanc, as well as new, hot brands such as Lambertson Truex, Lisa
Jenks, and Killer Loop.
"We continue to develop relationships that bring great value to
our business and our customers," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of
Amazon.com. "By forming alliances that expand access to quality
products, we make it easier for customers to find whatever they want
online. We chose to work with Ashford.com, because it offers customers
an excellent online experience, outstanding value and a great
selection of watches, jewelry, leather goods and other luxury items."
"We are honored to be working with the leader in e-commerce, who
shares our commitment to quality and excellent customer service," said
Kenny Kurtzman, CEO of Ashford.com. "Now Amazon.com customers will
have easy access to our selection of well-known luxury brands in time
for this holiday season."
In connection with the agreement, Amazon.com will make an equity
investment of $10 million in Ashford.com. The agreement is subject to
the satisfaction of standard closing conditions.
About Ashford.com
Ashford.com (Nasdaq:ASFD) is the leading Internet retailer of
luxury and premium products and is the Internet's No. 1 retailer of
watches and jewelry. The company's e-commerce site, located at
ashford.com, offers a vast selection of diamonds and more
than 12,000 styles of new and vintage watches, designer jewelry,
fragrance, bath and body products, leather accessories, ties, scarves,
sunglasses, and writing instruments from more than 300 leading brands.
Dedicated to creating a comfortable and safe shopping
environment, Ashford.com offers customers the Ashford.com Protection
Plus(TM) policy, which provides industry leading warranties, privacy
and security. Ashford.com is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the
Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer.
Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide
Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along
with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards.
Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories
including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs,
home-improvement products, software, and video games. Through
Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually
anything to Amazon.com's more than 13 million customers, and with
Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions,
avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company,
where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy
online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours the Web to help
customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com,
Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the
shopping destination to find anything.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk
in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also
operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book,
calendar, and reminder service.
It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the
Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more
than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and
crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present.
Amazon.com also operates Amazon.com LiveBid Auctions
(http://livebid.amazon.com), the leading provider of live-event
auctions on the Internet.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are
improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more
convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for
health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at
www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products,
expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the
first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery
service, with operations in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Southern
California, at www.homegrocer.com; and Gear.com, which offers
brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail,
at www.gear.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della & James, which
brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice,
and personalized gift suggestions to help everyone give better gifts,
at www.della.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others,
Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses,
unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in
quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends,
competition, risks of distribution-center expansion, risks related to
fourth-quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management
of potential growth, risks related to auction and zShops services,
risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new
business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and
strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially
could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in
Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended
March 31, 1999, June 30, 1999, and September 30, 1999.
Note to Editors: Ashford, Ashford.com, and Ashford.com Protection
Plus are trademarks of Ashford.com. All other marks are the property
of their respective owners.
A copy of this press release can be found at
ashford.com.
--30--mtl/sf* dc/sf
CONTACT: Amazon.com
Paul Capelli, 206/266-7180
or
Ashford.com
Stephanie Gnibus, 408/396-4449
Wendy McCarthy, 650/961-9202
KEYWORD: WASHINGTON TEXAS OREGON CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERNET E-COMMERCE RETAIL
MARKETING AGREEMENTS
PRODUCT
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
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URL: businesswire.com
Dec-01-1999 06:17 GMT
Symbols:
US;AMZN US;ASFD
Source BW Business Wire |
