USA: Sunglass Hut International Completes Acquisition Of Watch World International

Sunglass Hut International (Nasdaq:RAYS), today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of Watch World International, Inc., a national chain of 119 specialty stores and operator of WatchWorld.com, based in New York, New York. The acquisition was completed on June 1, 2000. For the twelve-month period ended January 29, 2000, Watch World generated approximately $42 million in sales. John X. Watson, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "With the successful completion of this acquisition, we have approximately doubled the size of our existing standalone watch business and have further accelerated our growth within the specialty watch category. We are well-positioned as the leading retailer in premium sunglass and popular priced watches, and look forward to implementing our marketing and merchandising strategies and integrating the Watch World operations prior to the important fourth quarter and holiday season," Mr. Watson concluded. Sunglass Hut International is recognized as a leader in specialty niche retailing with 1,867 locations including 1,494 Sunglass Hut locations, 110 Watch Station stores and 263 combination sunglass and watch stores around the world. As of May 27, 2000 the Company operated a total of 1,867 stores compared to 1,986 in operation in May 1999. The addition of Watch World will add another 119 stores nationwide. Located in a wide variety of high traffic shopping and tourist destinations, Sunglass Hut and Watch Station stores offer consumers the latest branded products at competitive prices along with outstanding customer service. Sunglass Hut stores are located throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Sales for the trailing four quarters through April 29, 2000 totaled $633.5 million and generated EBITDA of $78.2 million. Additional information about products, locations and corporate news is available at