MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
October 11 – October 15, 2007 Edition
Trans World Stores
to Add Manga Sections
In All Store Locations
BAYONNE, NJ/10/5/07–Trans World Entertainment Corp, one of the largest specialty music and video retailers in the United States, has hired wholesaler Bookazine to develop and manage a new manga section for its more than 800 stores in 26 states.
TWE operates stores under the names F.Y. E., Coconuts, Sam Goody, Planet Music and Suncoast. Bookazine bills its operation as the oldest and largest independent book wholesaler.
Bookazine also operates its own pop culture program called Popazine, featuring manga, graphic novels and other pop-culture items. The Popazine unit has produced a growing share of company sales, growing from a 5% share of sales just last year, to about 8% by the end of 2007. The product mix for TWE will include manga, science fiction/fantasy, movie and TV tie-ins and games, though not all items will be available in all stores. The Popazine program will roll out in all TWE stores by the end of December 2007.
Trans World Entertainment Corporation, founded in 1972, currently operates over 800 stores in 26 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and operates a retail Web site at www.fye.com. Its stores are divided into two categories: mall-based and freestanding. Trans World’s national mall-based portfolio is now united under the brand name FYE, for your entertainment; the portfolio also includes select Saturday Matinee movie stores. Freestanding stores include Wherehouse Music, Coconuts Music & Movies, Strawberries, Spec’s, CD World, Streetside Records and Planet Music.
The Company offers a wide selection of entertainment products, including CDs, DVDs, prerecorded audio and videocassettes and related accessories. The Company’s headquarters, along with its main distribution center, is in Albany, NY with additional distribution facilities in North Canton, OH and Carson, CA.
