ALFN:
(BSNS WIRE) New E-Commerce Toy Site Explains How Significantly Lower Cos
New E-Commerce Toy Site Explains How Significantly Lower Cost-Structure Should
Raise Profit Margins
Business Editors
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1999--Alottafun! Inc.
(OTC BB:ALFN), a Milwaukee-based toy manufacturer and marketer
announced on Thursday that it will soon launch a new toy E-commerce
Web site called Alottatoys.com. Due to the massive amount of queries
both from the media and the investment community, Alottafun! Inc. now
wants to provide the following background information on the details
of its plans.
Alottatoys.com Inc. is a Delaware corporation, owned by
Alottafun! Inc., Toy Distributors LLC and CPNM Inc. Each one of the
shareholders will own 33.3% of Alottatoys.com Inc. Of these, only
Alottafun! Inc. is publicly traded.
Forbes magazine reports on its March 8, 1999 issue that Web site
development and marketing costs represent 20.2% of E-commerce sites
total costs, compared to just 2.5% with traditional superstores.
Distribution costs for these sites are a huge drain as well. Online
operations' shipping and handling costs represent another 20.9%, vs.
2.9% with traditional superstores.
"The way Alottatoys.com is owned and structured will allow us to
eliminate a large part of those costs, giving us a huge cost advantage
over our competitors," says Michael Porter, CEO of Alottafun! Inc.
"CPNM and its sister operations will provide their marketing services
to the venture for free. This should reduce our Web site development
and marketing costs by up to 90%. And, by having access to the
nation's largest independent toy distributor's, M.W. Kasch's, existing
warehouse and distribution centers as well as logistical systems, we
will eliminate a huge part of our distribution costs. In other words,
we don't have to reinvent the wheel."
Toy Distributors LLC will handle supply inventory management and
logistics services through its contract with M.W. Kasch. Family-owned
M.W. Kasch Company has been in the distribution business for 60 years.
M.W. Kasch represents hundreds of manufacturers from Mattel (NYSE:MAT)
to Hasbro (AMEX:HAS), and offers over 9,000 domestic and imported
toys. It provides just-in-time delivery of products throughout the
U.S. with warehouses in Mequon, Wis. and in Fontana, Calif.
Alottafun! Inc. is the toy manufacturer and marketer in the trio
of partners. Its products include toy tea sets, games and puzzles,
books, plush toys, purses and ride-on cars, all of which are
distributed by leading toy retailers like Toys R Us (NYSE:TOY). Even
though Alottatoys.com will eventually carry thousands of products from
several hundred of manufacturers, it will provide Alottafun! with a
new, powerful distribution channel and potentially higher profit
margins. In the meantime, Alottafun! is aggressively developing new
products and lines and is expanding its distribution network. The
company is expected make further announcements about its operations
later this month.
CPNM, the multimedia marketing company owned by Beryl J. Wolk,
will use its wide variety of advertising outlets to market
Alottatoys.com to potential customers. Mr. Wolk is an innovator in all
types of advertising and marketing. His company was the first to use
newspapers for the distribution of magazine-style advertising inserts.
Over two billion inserts have already been published for clients such
as Ford (NYSE:F), Chrysler (NYSE:DAJ), GM (NYSE:GM), and McDonalds
(NYSE:MCD). Wolk's companies also include the largest sweepstakes in
the USA, as well as 55 clubs with 21 million members.
Wolk was also co-founder and co-owner of the largest circulation
magazine (over 6 million copies distributed monthly) focusing on cable
television, which was recently merged with TV guide. Wolk also was the
founder of the first company to ever produce 30-minute infomercials.
To date, his company has produced over 1600 infomercials. In addition
to these companies, Wolk is a co-owner in Sales Dynamics Inc., which
operates over 2,600 kiosks in over 150 regional malls. These kiosks
carry a wide variety of merchandise, and can potentially also
represent Alottafun!'s toy lines.
Wolk's enterprises consist of over 20 companies and over 200
joint ventures. On the Internet, Wolk's CPNM Inc. has a dominant
position through its partnerships with high traffic sites such as
Shopping.com (Nasdaq:IBUY), WorldPages ( www.worldpages.com ),
Worldnetdaily.com, and Five Star Advantage
( www.fivestaradvantage.com ). CPNM can allocate an almost unlimited
amount of advertising space to Alottatoys.com in order to put
Alottatoys.com's product lines in front of at least 170 million Web
surfers every month.
The statements made by Alottafun! may be forward looking in
nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in
forward looking statements. Alottafun! believes that its primary risk
factors include, but are not limited to: the need for substantial
financial requirements; the need to develop effective internal
processes and systems; the ability to attract and retain high quality
employees; changes in the overall economy; changes in technology; the
number and size of competitors in its markets; changes in the law and
regulatory policy; and the mix of product and services offered in the
company's target markets. Merger Communications (Merger) is a media
relations firm employed by Alottafun!. The statements and opinions
presented here represent the views of the Company, not Merger, as the
release is based on the information provided by the Company. Merger
and Alottafun! believe that all information in this release has been
obtained from sources considered reliable, but can not guarantee that
the statements presented herein are accurate or complete. Merger's
compensation consists of a fee and stock. Merger can have a long
position in the securities of the companies in which it distributes
information for media use, and Merger may be buying or selling
securities.
--30--MJB/ho*
CONTACT: Merger Communications, Houston
David Drake, 713/267-2328
KEYWORD: WISCONSIN
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
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