ADVISORY/New Hampshire Resident Wins Sweepstakes Prize From Fingerhut Companies Inc.; 32-Year-Old Cheryl Baron to Receive $100,000.

News/Assignment Editors

ADVISORY...for Tuesday (Feb. 27)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

          TO: New Hampshire and Vermont news editors, assignment editors
            and reporters

          FROM: Fingerhut Companies, Inc.

          WHAT: Paul Bona, Senior Vice President of Marketing for
            Fingerhut, will present 32-year-old Charlestown, N.H.,
            resident Cheryl Baron with a $100,000 sweepstakes award.
            Cheryl and her close friends and family will arrive in two
            limousines - the media is invited to cover the event and
            take pictures.

          WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 27th, 2001
              6:15 p.m.

          WHERE: A.J.'s Restaurant
               40 Bowling Lane
               White River Junction, VT
               Phone: [phone]

          NOTES: Baron currently resides in Charlestown, N.H. with her
            husband and two children. She's been a Fingerhut customer
            for almost three years and her winning entry came from a
            multi-mailer promotion. No purchase is necessary to enter
            Fingerhut's sweepstakes contest.

              Fingerhut has awarded more than 96,000 sweepstake prizes
            valued at more than $31 million. Baron becomes Fingerhut's
            largest prize winner from the Vermont or New Hampshire
            area.

              Fingerhut is a leading database marketing company selling
            a broad range of products and services through catalogs,
            direct marketing and the Internet. Headquartered in
            Minnetonka, Minn., Fingerhut is the second largest
            consumer cataloger in the country.