Colombian Retailers Choose Acousto-Magnetic Anti-Theft Technology for Source Tagging.

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1999--

Sensormatic Electronics Corporation (NYSE:SRM) today announced that its acousto-magnetic electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology has been selected by the majority of Colombian retailers as the preferred technology for source tagging in that region.

Through the trade organization, The Colombia Federation of Retailers (FENALCO), retailers representing the majority of all retail sales in Colombia have selected the acousto-magnetic anti-theft systems as the primary source tagging technology. These retailers include Almacenes al 14, Almacenes Vivero, Cadenalco S.A., Colsubsidio, Exito, Febor, Makro de Colombia and Supertiendas Olimpica.

These retailers now join global leaders such as Kmart, Karstadt, The Home Depot, The Hudson's Bay Company, Wal-Mart, Federated Department Stores, Boots the Chemist, Liverpool and Palacio de Hierro, who have selected the acousto-magnetic technology as their preferred choice for source tagging. Source tagging is the process of applying or inserting anti-theft labels into merchandise at the point of packaging or manufacturing.

"For Exito stores, acousto-magnetic technology has been the most suitable one for our store environment," commented Julio Duran, loss prevention officer of Exito stores. "Our ongoing source tagging program involves more than 80 vendors and has delivered excellent results."

"Source tagging is a worldwide initiative and Colombian retailers recognize the benefits of these programs in increasing sales. Our retailers should match worldwide retail benchmarks in order to become more competitive in today's global marketplace," said Ximena Penafort, FENALCO's legal vice president who helped coordinate the meetings at which the final decision was made by the independent chains.

"The selection made by these retailers who represent the majority of the retail market in Colombia, places the acousto-magnetic technology as the standard for vendor source tagging in that region," added Ronald F. Premuroso, president of Sensormatic's International Operations and a senior vice president of the Company.

Currently, more than 127 retailers and 2,100 consumer goods manufacturers are participating in source tagging programs using Sensormatic technologies.

Sensormatic Electronics Corporation is the leading supplier of electronic security systems to the retail, commercial and industrial marketplaces. Sensormatic is also the leader in integrated source tagging - a process where consumer goods manufacturers apply anti-theft tags at the point of packaging or manufacturing.

For more information on Sensormatic, visit the company's homepage on the World Wide Web at http://www.sensormatic.com.