An Aggressive Launch for CloseOutNow.com; Internet Fashion Start-up Meets Crucial Milestones.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2000 Nine months ago, Fulton Macdonald exclaimed, "It's a home run!" when his friend of 30 years, Steven Lubinski, tossed out the idea for CloseOutNow.com. After two months of brainstorming, the pair came up with a plan to use the power of the Internet to serve the fashion industry and capture a significant percentage of its $100 billion "close-out" business. "CloseOutNow.com will be successful for two fundamental reasons," said Lubinski, CloseOutNow.com's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "It addresses the critical industry problem of low-margin closeouts and its resultant effect on profitability. It also provides a solution that is global in nature." A Global Turn-Key Solution The two friends believe that their idea for a web-based closeout closeout, closure the finalization of a feeding program in a feedlot. The cattle are sold and a balance sheet is struck which includes the costs of feeding and housing or confining them. auction has tremendous potential in the era of business-to-business e-Commerce. "Closeouts and retail consolidation have killed margins," said Macdonald, CloseOutNow.com's Vice Chairman and Chief e-Commerce Officer. "The global platform of the Internet opens a vista of alternative selling choices, allowing users to sell closer to the final point of distribution and creating higher margins for both the seller and the end user. We are creating a virtual channel to move merchandise at decent margins while physical channels of distribution continue to decline." CloseOutNow.com will be a global solution for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, both in its scope of services and its geographic reach. The company has established strategic partnerships in Asia and Europe, and expects to serve customers from all corners of the globe. The web site will be a full-service "total" solution auction that will provide financing and logistical support, if necessary, as well as a multilingual mul·ti·lin·gual adj. 1. Of, including, or expressed in several languages: a multilingual dictionary. 2. customer support staff. An Experienced Management Team CloseOutNow.com's two top executives bring over 70 years of combined experience in the retail and fashion industries to their new enterprise, much of it in the international arena. Lubinski launched one of the most successful designer sportswear companies, Escada, in the early 1980s and was Executive Vice President of Associated Merchandising Corporation when it was the largest retail buying organization in the world, representing such department store organizations as Federated Connected and treated as one. See federated database and federated directories. , Dayton Hudson and numerous independent retail department stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. now owned by such retail giants as May Company and Dillard's. Macdonald has served in several senior executive positions as well, including President and acting CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Irwill Industries, where he repositioned the company's marketing thrusts and oversaw o·ver·saw v. Past tense of oversee. worldwide manufacturing. He adds over twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. of Internet experience and unique venture development expertise as CEO of International Business Development Corp., to his fashion industry resume. Milestones After incorporating earlier this year and putting together a business plan and presentation for potential investors, CloseOutNow.com took the key step of hiring Pandesic as the company's information technology platform and technology advisor in June 1999. The company launched an "information only" web site last August and issued a private placement memorandum private placement memorandum The documentation that provides information on a new security issue. It is similar to but less extensive than a prospectus. valuing the company at $40 million short time later in early September. Lubinski and Macdonald established its flagship office in New York's Fashion District in October. Active launch of the CloseOutNow.com web site is scheduled for early March 2000. In addition to receiving the enthusiastic support of high net-worth investors, CloseOutNow.com has also proven to be an attractive opportunity for two unlikely partners. Pandesic, after a period of careful due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. , directly invested in the venture in November 1999, and CloseOutNow.com's New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. landlord agreed to accept half of the rent in stock. CloseOutNow.com has attracted key industry leaders to its Board of Directors, including such notables as Lilia Clemente, Donald Franceschini, Nancy Marino and Zachary Solomon, and has assembled a full-time staff and "virtual organization" of 45. A Bright and Busy Future With another $3 million investment committed for January 2000, the company's marketing campaign begins in earnest, with teaser teaser an animal used to sexually tease but not to impregnate the members of the opposite sex. Usually males and they may be surgically prepared to ensure that they cannot mate or are not fertile. ads to run throughout January and February in major trade publications on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of CloseOutNow.com's web site launch. "Once our site is live in early March 2000, we estimate our valuation will be over $100 million," said Lubinski. |
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