SEATTLE -- Nov. 9, 1999 -- Leading online retailer Amazon.com (www.amazon.com), further establishing itself as the only one-stop online shopping destination, announced today the opening of four new stores: Home Improvement, Software, Video Games, and Gift Ideas.

The company also announced that it has acquired Tool Crib of the North, a leading tools and equipment catalog company.

All four of the new stores open Wednesday.

"We're proud to offer customers the biggest selection for holiday shopping-and beyond," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. "We're pleased we could open these four stores in time for the holidays."

Amazon.com did not purchase Tool Crib's chain of five retail tool and equipment stores in North Dakota and Minnesota, which remain privately held.

"Tool Crib already had the largest selection of tools and equipment anywhere-online or off-and Amazon.com has more than tripled that selection to launch our new Home Improvement store," said Joe Galli, Amazon.com president and COO. "Whether you're a contractor or a hobbyist, we've got the brands you're looking for and the biggest selection, from smoke detectors and garden hoses to concrete mixers, generators and table saws."

The Amazon.com Home Improvement store (www.amazon.com/homeimprovement) will offer the same helpful information and expertise of other Amazon.com stores: customer reviews of products, reviews by expert editors, high-quality product images and other vital product information. Customers can browse through eight categories such as electrical and lighting, hardware, housewares, lawn and garden, outdoor living, painting supplies, plumbing, and tools.

Shipping is only $4.95 a shipment, even if it is a 500-pound table saw or a large number of small items. Returns are simple and easy so customers can buy with confidence. Customers with larger items to return can contact customer service for free pick up.

Gift Ideas Store

The Amazon.com Gift Ideas store features an extensive selection of gift ideas and services for all holidays this season. Shoppers can browse 15 categories by interest or age to find thousands of the best gift ideas. Personal interest categories include gifts for the Globetrotter, the Humor Monger, Sports Enthusiast, and Culture Vulture.

There will be Top Sellers by product line and in each browse category. During the Holidays, Amazon.com will make it easy for customers to find, wrap, and ship their gifts for on-time arrival.

This year, finding the perfect gift is even easier with Wish List, which allows anyone to make their holiday gift wishes available to friends and family. Wish List has had the quickest customer adoption of any feature introduced by Amazon.com. Other new services will include item level gift-wrapping with a gift card and personal message to each gift recipient plus a variety of wrapping options and the ability to fill a shopping cart, send items to multiple recipients in multiple locations but check out only once.

Software Store

The new Amazon.com Software store (http://www.amazon.com/software) will offer a complete line of office, educational, and gaming titles, with such categories as Fashion and Beauty, Personal Improvement, Graphics and Multimedia. The store will feature such titles as: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Adobe Photoshop, Homeworld, Red Hat Linux 6.1, Quicken 2000, Microsoft Office 2000, Irish Now! Deluxe Edition 7.0, and Cosmopolitan Virtual Make-Over 2.0 Deluxe.

To help customers choose the right software titles in this vast selection, Amazon.com offers product buying guides, customer comments, and professional reviews from Gamespot. In addition, Amazon.com will provide links to help customers discover new products such as books, hardware, or accessories related to their new software packages.

Video Games Store

The new, full-line Amazon.com Video Games store (http://www.amazon.com/videogames) will provide shoppers with thousands of popular and hard-to-find video games and accessories-both for personal computers and for all of the major video game platforms, including Dreamcast, PlayStation, Nintendo, Game Boy and NEOGEO. In addition, the store will feature rich editorial content and special features to help customers make informed purchase decisions and derive the most enjoyment from their gaming system.

"Video Games 101" will help customers learn the nuances of each major video game system; "Setting Up Your System" will teach shoppers about accessories; and a unique "Pros and Cons" section features special commentary on select titles from Amazon.com's expert reviewers. Customers will also find listings of the 25 best-selling games for each of the major platforms, weekly listings of hot titles and current favorites, features on consoles and accessories, and a bargain corner, where customers can find great games at bargain prices.

Customers will also be able to pre-order new and hot titles.

About Amazon.com, Inc.

Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection with online auctions, toys, electronics, and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, and computer games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 13 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit-card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.

Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours the Web to help customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the shopping destination to find anything.

Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates Amazon.com LiveBid Auctions (http://livebid.amazon.com), the leading provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.

Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service, with operations in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Southern California, at www.homegrocer.com; and Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com. Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della & James, the leading online wedding-gift registry, at www.dellajames.com.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1999 and June 30, 1999.