Houston, TX – May 14, 2007 Extending
its geographic reach throughout the state, TNR Entertainment
Corp., the nation’s largest owner and operator
of DVD rental kiosks in supermarkets and grocery stores
under The New Release™ brand, has installed 50
additional kiosks from Sacramento to San Diego, following
the company’s initial entry into the state earlier
this year. This brings to 161 the total number of TNR
kiosks in the state, all of which are located in selected
Ralph’s supermarkets, Food 4 Less and FoodsCo
stores.
A majority of the newly installed kiosks are located
in first-time areas for TNR, ranging from cities in
the northern/central parts of the state such as such
as Fresno, Sacramento, Salinas, and Santa Maria to southern
sites such as Cathedral City Chula Vista, Downey, Escondido,
Fontana, Indio, Lancaster, North Hollywood , Ontario,
Oxnard, Palmdale, Pasadena, Torrance, and Victorville.
These are in addition to new kiosks installed in widely
dispersed established TNR areas such as Los Angeles,
Long Beach, Orange County, Palm Springs, Riverside,
the San Fernando Valley, and San Diego.
“The Western United States has become one of
TNR’s biggest geographic regions, particularly
California, and we consider this expansion as simply
the beginning, based on the exceptional customer acceptance
of the rental kiosk concept and our strong relationship
with Kroger. We plan on significant further West Coast
expansion for the company,” said Jeff Karbowiak,
COO of TNR.
In 2007, Karbowiak noted that TNR will have penetrated
five West Coast states for the first time, including
Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon, as well as California.
TNR is currently underway on a significant nationwide
expansion program, sharply increasing its current network
of 1,600 kiosks across 28 states by year end. For a
complete listing of the Company’s supermarket
and grocery store locations, see the geographic search
section of TNR’s website, www.thenewrelease.com.
The New Release automated DVD rental kiosks provide
supermarket customers with a more convenient one-stop
shopping experience. As the Company’s kiosks are
being introduced in new markets, more consumers are
able to enjoy renting the latest DVD titles for $1-a-day
and no late fees – a simple and affordable pricing
structure that TNR was the first to successfully market.
Unlike its competitors, TNR’s kiosks house up
to 1,000 units each, representing more than 200 titles,
including top new releases. The fully-automated kiosks
operate on a wireless communications network and next-generation
DVD kiosk operating system.
TNR has served millions of customers since its inception
in 2002. The privately-held company, based in Houston,
dominates the self-service DVD rental category in the
grocery channel. TNR currently has more than 1,600 locations
in such grocery chains as Dillon’s, Food 4 Less,
Food Lion, Fry’s, H-E-B, Kroger, King Soopers,
Publix, Quality Food Centers, Ralph’s, Roundy’s/Pick
‘N Save, and Spartan/Family Fare across the country.
Led by TNR Entertainment’s management team of
CEO Richard B. Cohen and COO Karbowiak, the Company’s
aggressive growth plans call for continuing national
expansion of its retail locations, well beyond the three-fold
increase of its kiosk network by this year end. TNR
completed a capital infusion of $45 million last year
to support this major effort.
Based in Houston, Texas, TNR Entertainment Corp. is
backed by an institutional investor group including
Celerity Partners, LP of Los Angeles; Chapton Partners,
LP, a Houston family partnership; Laminar Direct Capital,
LP, a member of the D. E. Shaw group of companies; and
MCG Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: MCGC), a leading specialized
financial services company and financial advisor.
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