PLCO : News
Date: 4/15/99 6:03:45 AM
Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp. Announces 52.3% Sales Increase for Fiscal
Year Ended March 31, 1999
-- Company posts record sales of $34,370,000
-- Same store sales for fiscal year increase 21.3%
-- Overall sales for fourth fiscal quarter increase 50.0%
OTC SYMBOLS: Common Stock - PLCO
Series E Preferred Stock - PLCOP
Series E Preferred Stock Warrants - PLCOW
SAN MARCOS, Calif., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Play Co, Toys & Entertainment
Corp. ("Play Co. Toys") (OTC Bulletin Board: PLCO, PLCOP, PLCOW) today
announced record sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999 of approximately
$34,370,000. The Company's sales grew by approximately $11.8 million, or a 52.3%
increase. Same store sales increased by approximately 21.3% for the year. The
Company posted a $2.4 million, or 50.0%, sales increase, for the fourth fiscal quarter.
All sales figures noted in this release are based on unaudited figures.
Richard Brady, President of the Company stated, "We are pleased with our continued
sales growth. Our expansion into specialty, collectible and educational toys along with
our new store site selection is proving to be a winning combination. We are excited
about the growth in our sales and recognize that this growth would not have been
possible without the support of our trade vendors and the dedicated and tireless efforts
of our employees."
Rich Brady continued, "The entire company is excited about our plans for growth in
1999. We currently have eight new stores planned for 1999. The first of these openings
will be our new Toys International stores in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and in Pier
39 in San Francisco. We expect to open those two stores in our June quarter. These
will be followed by new store openings in Mission Viejo, California, The Woodfield
Mall in Chicago, and two stores each in Houston, Texas and in Concord, North
Carolina."
Overall sales for the month of March increased by 71.3%. Same store sales for the
month of March increased by approximately 4.4%.
Play Co. Toys also announced that the advertising banners for its new website
(toyswhypayretail.com) have begun to show up under its agreement with America On
Line (NYSE: AOL). The website incorporates e-commerce features from Cybercash
(Nasdaq: CYCH) and Mercantec Inc.
The Company plans to go online with a second unique site (the Play Co. Toys web site)
in May 1999. That site will focus on collectible and imported specialty merchandise,
such as die-cast cars, dolls, plush, trains and collectible action figures. These products
will be presented to a more upscale market. The collectible and import specialty side of
this site will be items that cannot be found in traditional mass merchandise toy stores.
Offering such products on the Internet will make them available to consumers who
cannot find them in their local community. The site is expected to grow in size up to
5000 SKU's at some point. Additionally, free gifts and similar online promotions will be
used to build traffic to the site.
In conjunction with this second web site, the Company is planning to open computer
kiosks in its own high traffic retail locations, and additionally offer thousands of
children's books, videos, collector dolls, LGB trains and other high end collectibles to
customers, many more than can be profitably stocked in a standard retail environment.
The Company believes that this approach will enable it to take advantage of the 5
million plus potential customers that visit its stores annually.
Play Co. Toys is a toy retailer with 25 stores located in southern California, Arizona,
Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Texas. The Company operates under The Play Co.
Toys, Toys International and Toy Co. tradenames. Play Co. Toys specializes in offering
educational, specialty, collectible, and traditional toys.
Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts may be
considered forward looking information with respect to plans, projections, or future
performance of Play Co. Toys as defined under the private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
SOURCE Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp.
CO: Play Co. Toys & Entertainment Corp.; Toys International; Toy Co.
ST: California, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Texas, North Carolina
IN: REA
SU:
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