Asian flagship Warner Bros. Studio Store to open in Hong Kong on Nov. 17, 1995; state-of-the-art entertainment and shopping emporium to bring Hollywood magic to Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 1995--The glamour and excitement of Hollywood comes to Hong Kong on Nov. 17 when the flagship Warner Bros. Studio Store opens its doors at Manson House on Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui.

The grand-opening multi-media extravaganza will include celebrities, local dignitaries, television and live on-site radio broadcasts. The joint announcement was made Tuesday by Peter Starrett, president, Warner Bros. Studio Stores, and Dickson Poon, chairman, Dickson Concepts, the first international licensee of Warner Bros. Studio Stores.

Located in the heart of Kowloon's prime tourist area of Tsimshatsui at the junction of Nathan Road and Humphreys Avenue, Hong Kong's first Warner Bros. Studio Store will occupy an area of 10,000 square feet.

The Asian flagship Studio Store will feature interactive elements, a theatrical atmosphere, an animation art gallery and a vast selection of merchandise inspired by the movie-making magic of Warner Bros. Studios and its legendary Looney Tunes characters and DC Comics superheroes.

Said Starrett, "It is particularly fitting that our Asian flagship Studio Store be located in Hong Kong, since Warner Bros. as a company has long been established there and it serves as our Asia Pacific headquarters.

"With the tremendous success of our Singapore Studio Store opening in October, we are especially thrilled to be bringing the Hollywood experience to Nathan Road in Kowloon, because it is one of the most heavily traveled roads in the world, offering an unparalleled mix of shopping and entertainment."

Design of the Manson House Studio Store centers around a DC Comics theme. In addition to a storewide mural highlighting Superheroes with a 20-foot suspended Superman as its centerpiece, the store will feature a grand circular stairway reminiscent of Hollywood in the 1940s.

Warner Bros. Studio Stores represent a completely new and exciting retailing concept capturing the magic of movies, television and animated films, making it accessible to an international audience of shoppers.

Store interiors resemble movie sets complete with scenic gurneys, gaffers' equipment and prop trolleys, theatrical lighting and black-and-white flooring. The state-of-the-art Videowall, combining high-resolution television and surround-sound acoustics, provides a continuous program of feature-film trailers, clips from classic movies, Looney Tunes cartoons and Warner music videos.

Also built into the stores are interactive elements designed to involve adults and children alike in the animated world of Looney Tunes cartoons.

These include a Gallery Interactive Learning Center, which educates shoppers of all ages about the process of animation; Coloring Station, where children can "paint" their own on-screen Looney Tunes cartoon cel and Marvin's Rocket, a fantasy rocketship complete with portholes, instrument panels and interactive games modeled on the space vehicle of Warner Bros. cartoon cult hero, Marvin the Martian.

Most prominent among the more than 2,500 products, which are designed to appeal to adults, as well as children, is an astounding collection of exclusive clothing, jewelry, accessories, memorabilia, etc., devoted to the enduring animated characters of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes -- including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, the Tasmanian Devil ("Taz") and DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman.

The success of the Warner Bros. Studio Stores retail concept is evidenced by the growth in store numbers over the short time since the opening of the first store in Los Angeles in 1991 to more than 130 stores internationally including 11 in Europe by the end of 1995.

In October 1994, Dickson Concepts, the company which owns the prestigious Harvey Nichols department store in London and the French luxury goods group S.T. Dupont, signed an exclusive long-term agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a division of Warner Bros., to establish a significant retailing presence for Warner Bros. Studio Stores in both Hong Kong and Singapore.

The flagship Hong Kong opening will be followed by the Park Lane Fashion House location in Causeway Bay on Nov. 25. Singapore's Suntec City Studio Store opened on Oct. 28, to be followed by the Singapore flagship opening on Orchard Road in December 1995.

Dickson Concepts is the first licensee of Warner Bros. Studio Stores in Asia, as until now, the focus has been on company-owned Warner Bros. Studio Stores throughout the United States and Europe. The company previously announced The Daiei Inc. as franchise partner to open stores in Japan.

Warner Bros. Consumer Products, which includes the Licensing, Studio Stores, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Toys Divisions, is a division of Warner Bros.

CONTACT: Warner Bros. Retail, Burbank

Liz Gardner, 818/954-3809