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To: Frank Buck who wrote (793)1/26/1999 11:23:00 AM
From: Jeffrey L. Henken  Respond to of 939
 
>The RDIM psychographic marketing approach certainly seems focussed and comprehensive. It is really amazing that none have attempted to build this type of customer interest base before.<

The private wholesale buying club industry appears to be the only segment of the market which has taken service and marketing to this level. In the long run this bodes very well for RDIM as the company acquires or roll up more and more clubs. This kind of information will be extremely useful to many sources which RDIM hopes to do business with in the future.

>Sorry to hit you with so many questions but you are certainly an excellent source of information on many RDIM areas. So here comes a few more.... were there any discussion of:

* Definitive RDIM Membership fees<

Still not decided as the membership fees can and will be lower if the member base reaches critical mass.

>* How are they planning on getting the web type boxes into the hands of potential customers? At what cost and who will carry that cost?<

An excellent question. It was not discussed but I'm certain that a member who does not have internet access will have to assume the burden of connecting in this fashion. It should not be a problem as consumers who join private wholesale buying clubs do it to realize tremendous savings on what they do buy. A small initial outlay to save thousands of dollars on what you do buy seems to be no large hurdle to overcome to me.

>* Building and progress of the EDI (Electronic Data Interphase) infrastructure between vendors/mfgrs' and RDIM's physical locations as well as their portal site?<

This was not asked. Alfred Werner's team should be able to handle this quite effectively. Remember 60% of the web site has been done for weeks but each individual physical location will have to be added to the system as these companies are acquired.

>* The amount of additional capital required to provide the overall unbuilt infrastructure and acquiring the physical catalog locations?<

John Folger said he hoped that the company would be able to acquire/roll up as many as 100 location in the next year. What will actually happen is hard to say but the majority of capital outlay will be balanced by the fact that RDIM is looking to buy profitable private wholesale consumer clubs at a discount to their market value. How can this be done? By negotiating the capital requirements with the issuance of restricted stock. In order for this vision to succeed those clubs which are acquired must buy into the potential of RDIM as a publicly traded company. If the stock price rises as we hope it will do then the company can issue a smaller number of restricted shares for each acquisition/roll up that is done. Once the company is rolling along the idea of a franchise may become quite alluring to businessmen willing to underwrite the cost of opening a new location.

>* The time frame for the actual debut of the operational cyber commerce system? Ie. second or third quarter of '99.<

I think you have this about pegged. I'm guessing the demo site will now be announced around mid February which puts us maybe a month behind where we hoped we would be after the last conference call. I wish Alfred Werner had been in attendance in Vegas but families do come first. One thing to remember is that RDIM has to build a customer base and that is what that letter of intent with PCS is all about. I'm hoping we see more like it in the not too distant future.

>* What type of strains will RDIM's presence produce between Mfgrs'. and their traditional distribution channels... ie. retail?<

Any strains will be minimal. RDIM will not advertise in a traditional sense. Therefore they will not compete with traditional retail channels on a traditional basis. It will be word of mouth about consumer savings that ultimately drives this engine without straining manufacturers traditional retail relationships. Lets face it, have you ever seen a Costco ad? I haven't and RDIM, or whatever they will be called then, won't venture into ad campaigns either.

Regards, Jeff