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To: Stephen Adnan who wrote (63470)	3/22/1999 10:24:00 AM
From: MikeUSA	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 119973

GEER selling wine over the Internet! $4 1/2 going up! News just out. CANTON, Mass., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Geerlings & Wade, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEER) (www.geerwade.com) today announced the details and purpose of a third electronic commerce website currently under development. This new website will feature up to 2,000 nationally advertised wine brands at competitive prices. This new venture is distinctly different from its two existing websites: GEERWADE.com which features wines, including private label wines, selected and sourced by Geerlings & Wade from producers throughout the world and TOPWINE.com which offers wine continuity programs under Passport Wine Club, a division of Geerlings & Wade. Jay Essa, President and CEO of Geerlings & Wade, commented "This new website will expand our e-commerce activity and address a much larger market. In the past, we have not been able to offer nationally advertised wine brands at competitive prices. By combining the regulatory approvals and infrastructure we have in place around the country with the marketing power, speed and efficiencies of the Internet, we expect to be able to offer such brands priced competitively and meet the wine buying needs of a greater number of consumers. E-commerce growth trends have ripened this opportunity." This new Internet-based venture, whose business name is still under construction, will leverage much of the Geerlings & Wade operations infrastructure. This infrastructure, which is designed to strictly comply with all federal and state regulatory requirements for wine sales, will support wine purchase, inventory, distribution, warehousing, customer fulfillment, billing and customer service activities for this new venture. Essa commented "Our current platform gives us a distinct competitive advantage over other wine initiatives on the Internet. It's important to remember that we have been selling directly to consumers since 1986 and have more than 129,000 active customers." One key benefit will be the ability of this new company to carry quick turn inventory of its website merchandise, leveraging a Geerlings & Wade proprietary process that enables quick order and delivery of its wine merchandise to all customers in the 27 states the company currently serves. According to Essa, "We expect to realize additional operating economies since this new business will market exclusively through the Internet. We do not plan to use mail or telephone channels to market these products or communicate with customers. As a result, we expect this new business to operate wore cost-efficiently, allowing us to be price competitive with our offerings of these nationally-branded wines. Obviously, advertising costs to drive traffic to our site will be a key variable. We will evaluate the extent to which marketing and advertising dollars may, in the future, be redirected away from traditional direct channels toward on-line outlets. We have already begun discussions with other Internet-based companies to explore possible alliances and other marketing vehicles. We also plan to test some print and radio advertising in selected markets."