Source: Good Guys Web Site: http://www.GoodGuys.com
Good Guys Announces New E-Commerce Initiative
""GoodGuys.com"" Will Leverage Position Of Brick-And-Mortar Stores To Serve Early Adopters And Tech-Savvy Consumers Nationwide
Good Guys (NASDAQ: GGUY), a leading specialty retailer of consumer entertainment electronics, today announced that it will create a new company, GoodGuys.com, Inc., to maximize opportunities for electronic commerce in the consumer entertainment electronics industry. One of the first retail Web sites dedicated exclusively to selling high-end, fully featured products to tech-savvy, early adopting consumers, GoodGuys.com is expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of calendar 2000. ""GoodGuys.com is a logical extension of our position as the provider of choice for customers who demand the most sophisticated high-tech consumer entertainment electronics,"" said Ronald A. Unkefer, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Good Guys and Chairman of GoodGuys.com. ""Leveraging the position, strong brand recognition, advertising and buying power of our brick-and-mortar stores, GoodGuys.com will offer a broad selection of fully featured, digital products, Internet-related appliances and consumer entertainment electronics from the same top manufacturers who sell their products in our physical locations. ""Studies by Web site research firms suggest that consumers would rather shop online with familiar names than with unknown, mass merchandising e-tailers lacking physical store locations,"" said Unkefer. ""GoodGuys.com will offer customers the unmatched high-touch customer service, product expertise and broad merchandise selection that are available in our brick-and-mortar stores. And, unlike many of the mass merchandisers, GoodGuys.com will be a fully authorized dealer of the brands it offers, ensuring that customers receive the same dealer service and support available to customers in our stores."" Good Guys will own stock and warrants that will give it 49.9 percent ownership of the company. Outside investors, including Bay Area venture capitalists, ""angel investors"" and Good Guys management and board members, will provide funding for GoodGuys.com. ""By creating a separate company dedicated to electronic commerce, Good Guys can reap all the benefits of a branded electronic commerce site, without assuming the associated financial risks and obligations,"" said Unkefer. ""GoodGuys.com allows us to offer our products to customers nationwide with our unique positioning and broad product selection."" Good Guys is in the process of selecting an experienced e-commerce technology partner to create and host the site and expects to announce its choice by the end of the month. GoodGuys.com is also reserving a substantial number of shares for option grants to attract outstanding personnel who can quickly build the site into the nation's premier entertainment electronics specialty site. About Good Guys GoodGuys.com will be incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, a state with no sales tax. Good Guys is a leading specialty retailer of consumer entertainment electronics, operating a total of 79 stores in California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada, and marketing a broad range of high quality, name brand products. For more information on Good Guys, including news releases, product information and store locations, visit http://www.thegoodguys.com.