CommercialWare Marks 30th Anniversary.

NATICK, Mass. -- Retail Software Vendor Grows from $3,500 Startup to Industry Leader, Noting Commitment to Customer Relationships as Core of Success

CommercialWare, Inc., the leading provider of cross-channel commerce infrastructure software for multi-channel retailers, today marked its 30th anniversary in the retail software marketplace.

Founded in 1975 in the Lower Mills of Dorchester, MA by Donny Askin, CEO, CommercialWare's history includes launching the firm with just $3,500, being purchased by a public company, venturing back into the private sector and acquiring several businesses.

With a core of unwavering long-term clients that include Patagonia, Disney, and Brooks Brothers, CommercialWare has steadily grown its business by focusing on customer relationships, applying small company values, and retaining talented, committed employees.

"For any company to remain in business for 30 years, it must go through three or four transformations. CommercialWare has endured the twists in business and throughout it all has thrived because of its commitment to the customer," said Donny Askin, founder and CEO of CommercialWare. "Substance is our priority. We are committed to the things that are core to good business: working hard to retain and enhance customer relationships and keeping costs in line."

CommercialWare first provided general contract software development as well as software development services for the apparel manufacturing industry. In the late 70s and early 80s, the company committed itself to servicing the direct marketing industry, focusing on mid-market catalogers.

Today a thriving, multi-million dollar company with just under 100 employees, the company has grown between 12 and 22 percent every year since 2002. Since 2003, CommercialWare has made two strategic acquisitions in purchasing New York-based OrderMotion and Toronto-based CaptureNet to fill out its software product suite, allowing the company to offer a complete cross-channel retail offering to small and mid-size retailers. Recent customer wins include Sur-la-Table, well known culinary retailer, bliss Spa, a fast-growing spa and beauty product retail business, Pendleton Woolen Mills, and JC Whitney, the country's largest direct marketer of automotive accessories and parts.

CommercialWare's historical highlights include:

- Emerging in the 1980s as a leader in the burgeoning direct marketing industry, with business expanding domestically and internationally;

- Becoming a part of ASA International Ltd., a publicly traded company, in 1992;

- Leaving ASA six years later as the largest and most profitable division in the company;

- Growing from 54 employees to 190 in just 90 days during the dot com boom years before the financial realities of 2001 forced the company to adjust expenses and staff quantities; and

- Reintegrating Askin into daily operations, resulting in a return to profitability in a year, driven in part to expanding the multi-channel retail business to include brick and mortar solutions.

Askin described the experiences of the last 30 years as a "warm-up for the next 10," adding "Our best days are still in front of us!"

About CommercialWare, Inc.

Headquartered in Natick, MA, with offices in Toronto and New York, CommercialWare Inc. develops multi-channel commerce infrastructure solutions that allow retailers and direct marketers to optimize transactions from all customer touch points. CommercialWare's comprehensive portfolio of products seamlessly links all aspects of the transaction lifecycle through point-of-sale, back-office, order management, fulfillment, customer service, collaboration, and analytics applications. CommercialWare offers a confluence of multi-channel solutions that power many of the leading retail brands, including Abercrombie and Fitch, Party Land, Chico's, J.Jill, Ritz Camera, Jos. A. Bank, and Patagonia.