• The first Hastings location in the state of Illinois;
• 24,750 square foot community entertainment center located at 1700 East College Ave.;
• Customized inventory in multiple entertainment formats includes about 40,000 book titles, 20,000 music selections, 6,000 videotapes and video games, 800 DVD-format titles, 2,000 periodicals, 1,500 software titles, and 1,500 complementary products, such as clothing, greeting cards and stationery products, for sale at discounted prices;
• Over 15,000 videotapes, video games and DVDs available for rent;
• Extensive children' product section, including free rentals on children’s videos and regular Story Time;
• Financial commitment to the literacy campaign in the local community;
• Employment for about 45 to 50 associates, primarily from the Normal area.

Whether browsing for that special book, sampling the latest music in the broad genre offering, selecting a current periodical or simply searching for a rental video for a comfortable evening at home, Hastings has it all in one location. The company developed the entertainment superstore format in 1991 and has steadily and profitably built its store base since then to 131 superstores located primarily in small to medium-size markets in 19 Midwestern and Western states. With its stores averaging 21,200 square feet, Hastings has almost 2.8 million square feet of retail space under lease. The company anticipates having about 170 stores open by the end of fiscal 2000.

"Every new store we open reflects our total commitment to satisfying our guests' desires for personal entertainment and information to achieve total customer satisfaction," said John H. Marmaduke, chairman and chief executive officer. "We have designed our stores to be fun and informative gathering places for our customers to shop. Our stores offer such amenities as free gourmet coffee, comfortable chairs for reading, CD listening stations, video game preview stations, interactive information kiosks, telephones for free local calls, children's play areas and in-store promotional events."