New Specialty Learning Toy Store Designed to Help Shoppers Find the Perfect Gift with Its Unique LEARNING VALUES(TM) System and Superior Online Shopping Experience. Merchandise Backed by Imaginarium.com TOYOLOGIST(R) Experts, Amazon.com Product Reviews, Teacher and Parent Opinions and More
FORT LEE, N.J--July 30, 2001--Toys "R" Us, Inc. (NYSE:TOY); Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) Imaginarium.com, LLC (www.imaginarium.com), an affiliate of Toys "R" Us, Inc. (NYSE:TOY) and the Internet companion to the popular specialty learning toy retailer IMAGINARIUM(TM), and Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced that the two companies are launching Imaginarium.com, a co-branded specialty and learning toy store at Amazon.com. The new co-branded store fills a void in the specialty toy category online and follows on the heels of Toysrus.com, the No. 1 online toy and video game seller online, and Babiesrus.com, the No. 1 online baby and juvenile retailer, two other stores jointly operated under the alliance formed last year between Amazon.com and Toysrus.com.
Unique LEARNING VALUES(TM) System Helps Pinpoint the Perfect Toy
A key element of Imaginarium.com is its unique LEARNING VALUES System that originated in Imaginarium stores, which allows parents and gift givers to search for toys according to seven specific skills that will be engaged as a child plays. One or more of the colorful symbols in the LEARNING VALUES System identifies each Imaginarium.com toy selection in categories ranging from Mathematical, Musical, Linguistic and Visual to Motor Skills, Cooperative Play or Independent Play. The site's Toy Finder feature allows shoppers to combine the LEARNING VALUES System search with tools that search the store by age, category or brand to help them pinpoint toys that fit an individual child's tastes or needs.
Imaginarium.com features one of the Internet's best specialty selections of learning toys as well as shopping tools to help parents and gift givers solve toy-buying dilemmas -- from selecting an important birthday gift to finding fun toys that will help a particular child learn and develop. The store offers easy access to a select offering of high quality and often hard-to-find toys from brands such as Learning Curve, BRIO, Neurosmith, LeapFrog, Baby Einstein, Madame Alexander and more.
The co-branded Imaginarium.com store will operate under the terms of the 10-year Strategic Alliance Agreement announced in August 2000 by Toysrus.com, the group that manages Imaginarium.com, and Amazon.com. Under the Agreement, Imaginarium.com assumes the merchandising, planning, buying and inventory management of the store's learning and discovery toy products; Amazon.com manages all aspects of the online shopping experience, including Web site development, order fulfillment and customer service, and will house Imaginarium.com inventory in its U.S. distribution centers.
"Imaginarium.com is designed to help parents find learning toys that are actually fun, and suited to their child's personality and interests," said John Barbour, CEO of Toysrus.com. "With Amazon.com, we built Imaginarium.com to help shoppers find the perfect toy or a special birthday gift. The store will also be a convenient step for parents who already shop our Babiesrus.com store just as their children reach toddler age."
"The addition of Imaginarium.com is a great complement to our already strong Amazon.com Kids platform of Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com and our current books, music and video offerings," said Jorrit Van der Meulen, general manager of Amazon.com Kids. "We think Imaginarium.com's specialty toy selection and shopping tools will resonate really well with Amazon.com's 35 million customers, plus it will have all of the features, information and service they've come to expect from the Amazon.com shopping experience."
Toy Tips from the Experts
Each Imaginarium.com item is backed by the expertise of an Imaginarium.com TOYOLOGIST Expert on its team of discovery and learning toy specialists, and is complemented by product reviews from educators, parents and experts assembled by Amazon.com editors, as well as reviews from other customers. Interested shoppers can subscribe to a monthly newsletter, Learning Toys Delivers, which will feature content and product selections specific to the Imaginarium.com store, plus information about local IMAGINARIUM store promotions and events. The store's in-depth Resource Center will also include articles, recommendations, ideas and parenting tips.
About Imaginarium
IMAGINARIUM is the premier specialty toy store chain where shoppers can find a GALAXY OF TOYS(R). IMAGINARIUM(R) has 42 freestanding stores across the United States. Acquired in July 1999 by Toys "R" Us, Inc., IMAGINARIUM is expanding nationally to more than 200 locations in the next few years. IMAGINARIUM is also in the process of launching its new "store within a store" concept in the more than 700 TOYS "R" US stores nationwide.
About Toysrus.com
Toysrus.com, an affiliate of Toys "R" Us, Inc. founded in May 1999 and based in Fort Lee, N.J., is the world's leading online authority for kids, family and fun. The company operates three co-branded online stores on the Amazon.com platform, including Toysrus.com, the No. 1 online store for toys and video games on the Web, Babiesrus.com, the No. 1 bestselling baby and juvenile retailer online, and Imaginarium.com, a specialty and learning toy online retailer. Toysrus.com teamed with Amazon.com was the No. 1 most visited online retailer during the holiday 2000 season (Nielson/NetRatings) and generated $180 million in sales during fiscal year 2000. Toysrus.com also owns a controlling interest in Toysrus.co.jp, the leading online toy retailer in Japan. Toysrus.com investors, in addition to its parent company, Toys "R" Us, Inc., include SOFTBANK Venture Capital.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. As such, they involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in such forward-looking statements. Toys "R" Us, Inc.'s forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about, or include statements concerning, many important factors, including, without limitation, consumer confidence, changes in discretionary consumer spending and consumer preferences, particularly as they relate to Toys "R" Us, Inc.'s particular merchandise mix and retail locations; Toys "R" Us, Inc.'s ability to effectively implement its merchandising, inventory control, marketing, store remodeling, electronic commerce and other strategies; increasing competition from other retailers; unseasonable weather; fluctuating sales margins; product availability; capital spending levels; and other risks detailed in Toys "R" Us, Inc.'s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Toys "R" Us, Inc. undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date such statements were made.
About Amazon.com
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 seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com and sellers list millions of unique new and used items in categories such as electronics, kitchen and housewares, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware and outdoor living products. Through Amazon.com Marketplace, zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's over 35 million cumulative customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com operates four international Web sites: www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de and www.amazon.co.jp. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 250,000 movies and entertainment titles and one million cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1891 to 2003.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, strategic alliances, strategic partnerships and business combinations, seasonality, potential fluctuations in operating results and rate of growth, management of potential growth, risks of system interruption, international expansion, consumer trends, risk of fulfillment center optimization, inventory risks, limited operating history, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas. 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, 2000, and all subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.