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To: DiViT who wrote (36424)	10/2/1998 11:13:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Another superstore announces DVD player and disc rental!!!!!!!!! newsalert.com Hastings Entertainment to Introduce DVD Sales and Rentals, Rent DVD Players AMARILLO, Texas, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Hastings Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAST), a leading multimedia entertainment superstore retailer, today announced that it plans to offer digital video discs (DVDs) for sale and rental in about 90 percent of its 125 entertainment superstores before the Thanksgiving holidays, with the remaining stores adding the new product line before the post-Christmas rush. Additionally, the Hastings superstores will support the introduction with the rental of DVD players. Hastings expects to initially stock approximately 350 titles for sale and 250 titles for rent, with rental rates for DVD movies following the same low pricing structure as the Company's VHS tape rentals. Five day rental rates for the DVD players will start at $14.99. The company expects 25 to 30 new DVD titles to be added each month to the selection, and all new DVD releases will be offered for rental simultaneously with the VHS version, if the studios release both versions on the same date. The Company has also added over 900 DVD titles for sale on its entertainment e-commerce Internet Web site, www.hastingsentertainment.com. "We have been testing this product in a limited number of our stores for the past year with good success," said John H. Marmaduke, chairman and chief executive officer. "However, because most of our stores are in small to medium-sized markets, we have experienced a slower adoption rate of this new technology than we would expect other retailers have experienced. We believe that sales and rentals of DVD movies will grow substantially this Christmas season and into 1999 due to the significantly reduced hardware prices for new DVD players and the much higher number of movies now being released in the DVD format." 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 games in a superstore format. The Company currently operates 124 superstores, averaging 21,200 square feet, primarily in small to medium-sized markets in the Midwestern and Western United States. The company also operates www.hastingsentertainment.com, a leading multimedia entertainment e-commerce Internet Web site that offers a vast and expanding selection of books, music, software, videotapes and games to the electronic global marketplace. General financial information about Hastings is available to investors and customers via the Internet at this site. Certain of the 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 (File No. 333-47969) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 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: hastings-ent.com /Web site: www.hastingsentertainment.com/