barnesandnoble.com and KidFlix.com Join Forces to Create Online Children's
Bookstore
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1998--
Nation's Largest Bookseller Partners with
Internet's Leading Online Family Video Store
to Promote Book Readership Among Children
MovieStreet, Inc., operator of the KidFlix.com online family video store,
today announced a partnership with barnesandnoble.com, the world's largest
online bookseller. Under the terms of the agreement, KidFlix.com and
barnesandnoble.com, will create a co-branded children's bookstore featuring
thousands of children's book titles.
The bookstore, an industry first, will provide specialized editorial
content designed to help parents choose videos that will encourage their
children to read more books. The bookstore will be located at the KidFlix.com
web site and will open in mid November, in time for the Christmas shopping
season.
"Numerous studies have shown that young children who are voracious
readers tend to be more successful in life when they grow up," said Jonathan
Kaplan, president and CEO of MovieStreet. "The key to encouraging early
interest in reading is to strike a balance between entertainment and
education. KidFlix.com and barnesandnoble.com have partnered to provide
parents expert guidance on how to choose videos that can actually increase
their children's desire to read. For example, a child who has just viewed
Disney's 101 Dalmatians may be interested to read Disney's book version of the
movie, followed possibly by a book about Dalmatians."
KidFlix.com and barnesandnoble.com and will create a compelling online
shopping environment, hosted at KidFlix.com, that helps parents choose videos
that have strong book counterparts. The bookstore, called "barnesandnoble at
KidFlix.com," will contain thousands of children's book titles, cross linked
with appropriate videos, along with exclusive editorial produced by the
partners. In addition to contributing exclusive editorial, barnesandnoble.com
will arrange for prominent children's authors to conduct live chats at the
site.
"We partnered with KidFlix.com because they share our vision that
properly chosen video entertainment products can encourage book readership,"
said Carl Rosendorf, vice president of sales, marketing and business
development at barnesandnoble.com. "Our co-branded bookstore will provide
parents the specialized guidance, content and selection they need to help
their children embrace reading."
KidFlix.com First to Address Family-Oriented Video Market
KidFlix.com is the world's first Internet retailer to focus exclusively
on the $5 billion market for family-oriented videos. The KidFlix.com site
offers guidance, selection and low prices on tens of thousands of video
titles, making it easy for families around the world to make smarter
entertainment decisions. With the addition of the new barnesandnoble at
KidFlix.com bookstore, KidFlix.com customers will have instant access to a
wide selection of family oriented videos and books, available for purchase 7
days a week, 24 hours a day.
KidFlix.com sells thousands of family video favorites from leading
studios such as Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Walt
Disney Company (NYSE: DIS); Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Columbia Tristar
Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), Paramount Studios, a
subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (AMEX: VIA), Twentieth Century Fox, a subsidiary of
News Corp. Ltd (NYSE: NWS), and Universal Studios, a subsidiary of The Seagram
Company, Ltd. (NYSE: VO).
KidFlix.com World's Leading Online Retailer of Family Entertainment Products
KidFlix.com is the world's leading online retailer of family
entertainment products. Following its launch last month, KidFlix.com has
attracted numerous complementary partners. In addition to its alliance with
barnesandnoble.com, KidFlix.com has formed strategic alliances with
iVillage.com, the Internet's largest women's network (announced separately
today); HotBot, a leading Internet search engine; West Coast Entertainment
(Nasdaq: WCEC), a major international video retailer that operates over 500
stores; and the Starlight Children's Foundation, a major international
children's charity.
About barnesandnoble.com
barnesandnoble.com offers customers more than four million books,
featuring the largest selection of in-stock titles of any bookseller online,
with over 650,000 titles in its distribution center and two million in-stock
rare and out-of-print books through its partnership with Advanced Book
Exchange. The site also has access to over 2.5 million additional titles from
more than 50,000 publisher imprints. It was the first online bookseller to
offer deep discounts, including up to 40 percent off hardcover books and up to
90 percent on its selection of thousands of bargain books.
barnesandnoble.com is the exclusive bookseller to America Online (AOL)'s
more than 12 million subscribers (Keyword: bn) and has strategic partnerships
with ten of the top twenty web sites, including ZDNet, CNN and Lycos. Through
its affiliate network, barnesandnoble.com has established "remote
storefronts," paying the highest commissions with the best reporting tools of
any similar bookseller program in e-commerce.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) operates 500 Barnes & Noble bookstores
and 509 B. Dalton bookstores. Barnes & Noble stores stock an authoritative
selection of more than 175,000 titles and offer books from more than 50,000
publisher imprints with an emphasis on small, independent publishers and
university presses. Barnes & Noble is the world's largest bookseller on the
World Wide Web (http://www.barnesandnoble.com), and the exclusive bookseller
on America Online (Keyword: bn). The company also publishes books under the
Barnes & Noble imprint for exclusive sale through its retail stores, mail-
order catalogs, and Web site.
General financial information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via
the Internet by visiting the company's investor relations Web site:
shareholder.com.
About KidFlix.com and MovieStreet, Inc.
Founded in 1998, KidFlix.com is a leading Internet retailer of family-
oriented videos. KidFlix.com 's unique combination of guidance, selection and
low prices has made it one of the Internet's hottest retailers. KidFlix.com is
committed to offering the world's largest selection of family-oriented videos,
available for purchase 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
MovieStreet, Inc., the parent organization behind KidFlix.com, is a
marketing and publishing organization that develops specialty electronic
retailing businesses targeting large demographic audiences. Both companies can
be reached by email at info@moviestreet.com, by phone at (415) 837-5750, by
fax at (415) 837-5755 and on the Internet at kidflix.com.
MovieStreet's mailing address is The World Trade Center, San Francisco, Calif.
94111.
CONTACT:
MovieStreet, Inc.
Amy Callaway, 415/837-5750
amy@moviestreet.com
or
Dovetail Public Relations
Mark Coker/Corey Oiesen, 408/395-3600
mark@dovetailpr.com / corey@dovetailpr.com |
