Barjan Acquires Impulse Merchandisers, the Largest Distributor of Products to the Car Wash Industry; Latest add-on acquisition opens new channel for Barjan.

Business Editors

EAST MOLINE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2000

Barjan Products, L.L.C., a national marketer and distributor of automotive, electronic, entertainment, and general merchandise products to travel centers, today announced the acquisition of Impulse Merchandisers, Inc. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the largest national distributor of general merchandise products to the car wash industry. The transaction represents the first step in a long-standing plan to expand into the car wash distribution channel.

Effective February 29, 2000, Barjan becomes the country's #1 distributor of car wash general merchandise, giving the company an established 1,400-account customer base built over Impulse's 25 years in business. The owners of Impulse, Joseph Palumbo, Ellen Palumbo, and John Federbusch, as well as the sales force will remain with the firm, which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Barjan.

The acquisition is part of an ongoing strategic expansion program that has more than quadrupled Barjan's sales in the last four years. That growth has been the result of 12 add-on acquisitions as well as significant infrastructure improvements.

"Our strategic plan has called for expansion into the car wash industry because of the strong synergies between our businesses," said Steve Huber, President of Barjan Products. "The products that car washes need are similar to those we distribute to travel centers, and the fulfillment and delivery process is almost identical. The biggest difference is that the car wash business is more urban than travel centers, but the fact that we are carrying over Impulse's sales force and management will allow us to plug into our new territories immediately."

In entering the car wash market, Barjan has the opportunity to leverage its strengths in both distribution and breadth of product. The company's warehouses in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Nevada can deliver merchandise to 90 percent of the country within a two-day shipping horizon. In addition, while many items in Barjan's inventory overlap with Impulse's 1,500 SKUs, many others may cross over into the car wash channel.

With the addition of Impulse's 1,400 car wash accounts as well as the opportunity to sell additional products in the new channel, Barjan expects the Impulse acquisition to significantly build business. The company also views the transaction as a springboard to further acquisitions of smaller distributors that serve the remaining full-service car washes in the country.

"Based on Barjan's physical and financial resources as well as its extraordinary growth over the past few years, we believe that joining forces with Barjan will make it possible to drive Impulse's distribution business to a new level," said Joseph Palumbo, who has served as Impulse's President since 1992. "Because current Impulse management will continue as active participants with Barjan, and because we will maintain our current sales force to ensure continuity, we look to be a significant asset in the company's future growth."

Barjan is the largest marketer of automotive, electronic, entertainment, and general merchandise products to the North American travel center market. The company also distributes to truck fleets, truck dealers, retail automotive chains, convenience stores and CB dealers. Barjan sells over 9,000 products, including CB radios and antennas sold under the barjan(R), Diesel and Wilson brand names, cables and accessories, replacement lights and lenses, car and truck waxes and polishes, chrome, audio cassettes, VHS video tapes and DVDs, books on tape, paperback books, software products, and a variety of other trucking and general merchandise.