SEATTLE--February 9, 2000--Leading online retailer Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) today announced the launch of toolcrib.amazon.com, a new store featuring a wide selection of tools and equipment for professional tool users and woodworkers.
Professional tool users and woodworkers can shop the new tools and equipment store at www.toolcrib.amazon.com as well as from the Amazon.com Home Improvement home page. The store opens today.
"Professional tool users and woodworkers are looking for a different selection and need different information from do-it-yourselfers," said Joe Galli, Amazon.com president and COO. "Toolcrib.amazon.com combines the authority of Tool Crib of the North and Amazon.com to create the right shopping experience for the professional tool user and woodworker."
Amazon.com acquired Tool Crib of the North's online and catalog sales division in October 1999 and continues to distribute the tools and equipment catalog. Tool Crib of the North has more than 50 years of experience serving the tool and equipment needs of people who make their living using tools.
"From safety equipment and scaffolding to concrete mixers and the hottest new industrial-grade tools, professional contractors can find everything they need for their job sites at toolcrib.amazon.com," said Galli.
The new store will include full line listings from well-known tool manufacturers such as DeWalt, Delta, Makita, Porter Cable, Bosch, and Hitachi. Customers will be able to browse products in 20 categories: accessories, air tools, clamps, corded tools, cordless tools, gas-powered equipment, hand tools, heaters and fans, job site office, ladders and scaffolding, lighting, material handling, measuring instruments, power supplies, radios, safety equipment, tool storage, vacuums and dust collectors, work support, and work wear.
To help professionals choose the right tools and equipment from this vast selection, the store will feature tool tests conducted by Tools of the Trade magazine, the authoritative source for tool information. Customer reviews, a feature Amazon.com made familiar to millions of Internet shoppers, will also be available on the site. In addition, a new products section will showcase the latest industrial-grade tools that increase productivity.
Amazon.com also has a Home Improvement store specializing in products for the homeowner, hobbyist, and do-it-yourselfer at www.amazon.com/homeimprovement.
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, home improvement products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 17 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry, and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com.
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 and www.amazon.de. 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 has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; living.com, the leading online home products and services retailer, at www.living.com; 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; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; and Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com. Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della.com, which brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice, and personalized gift suggestions to help everyone give better gifts, at www.della.com; and NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady™ portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.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, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, 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, June 30, 1999, and September 30, 1999.