The new Hastings Entertainment Superstores include a 25,000-square-foot unit in Fort Smith, Ark., at 6800 Rogers Ave.; a 29,330-square-foot store in Olathe, Kan., at 16630 W. 35th St., and an 18,000-square-foot unit in Waxahachie, Texas, at 401 Highway 77 N.

"Hastings is in the middle of the most ambitious store expansion program in our history, with plans to open a total of about 60 new superstores before the end of fiscal 2000, which will give us a net of approximately 170 units in operation as we enter the new millennium," said John H. Marmaduke, chairman and chief executive officer. "The company has steadily and profitably built its superstore base since we opened our first multimedia superstore in 1991, but we are now ready to accelerate our expansion rate, and we have identified at least 500 small to medium-sized markets that meet our new-market criteria."

"A key reason we decided to accelerate our store expansion program is the success we’ve exhibited with our proprietary system for information, purchasing, distribution and inventory controls that took four years and approximately $13 million to develop and implement," noted Marmaduke. "We believe this system, which was completed in 1997, is like no other in entertainment retailing today. It enhances our profit potential and competitive position by enabling Hastings to rapidly and actively respond to changing customer desires and shifts in market conditions and inventory requirements, while maintaining close control of costs."

Hastings superstores offer customers an extensive product assortment, customized for the entertainment preferences of each individual market, of approximately 44,000 book titles, 27,000 music selections, 1,500 software titles, 2,000 periodicals, 6,000 videotape titles, and 1,500 complementary and accessory items, as well as another 15,000 videotape and video game selections for rent.

"As a company, we take very seriously our corporate mission to satisfy our guests’ desires for personal entertainment and information through total customer satisfaction, and that concern is reflected in every store we open," added Marmaduke. "We have designed our stores to be fun and informative gathering places for our customers to shop, offering 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."

Celebrating its 30th year in entertainment retailing, Hastings is a leading multimedia entertainment retailer that combines the sale of books, music, software, periodicals and videotapes with the rental of videotapes and video games in a superstore format. The company currently operates 123 superstores, averaging 21,200 square feet, primarily in small to medium-sized markets in the Midwestern and Western United States, as well as a multimedia e-commerce Internet Web site, hastingsentertainment.com. General financial information about Hastings is available to investors and customers via the Internet at this site.