LEARNING EXPRESS TALLIES 100+ STORE OWNERS AT ITS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Learning Express Stores In 28 States Also Named Melissa &Doug Vendor Of The Year And Bestowed Additional Honors To Action Products, Creativity For Kids, Manhattan Toy, Maxim, RC2 & Small World Toys

Devens, MA (June 30, 2004) -- Learning Express, the nation’s leading specialty toy and gift retail store franchise, revealed over a dozen 2004 vendor awards at its Annual Meeting and Vendor Expo held in Boston June 19-23. The winning vendors were voted by Learning Express stores nationwide and recognized at a banquet at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Melissa & Doug (formerly Lights, Camera, Interaction!) took home the prestigious “Vendor of the Year” award for the second consecutive year.

Sharon DiMinico, Founder and CEO of Learning Express announced during the awards banquet, “Melissa & Doug continue to provide our stores with high quality products and extraordinary customer service. They go the extra mile to make doing business with them exceptionally easy.”

Top winners in other categories included: Action Products International for “You Can Count On Us”; Creativity for Kids for “Best Retailer Customer Service”; Manhattan Toy for “Best Marketing Campaign”, Maxim Enterprises for “Best New Vendor”; RC2 for “Best Support Programs” and Small World Toys for “Partnership.”

The popular Vendor Expo allowed store owners from Arizona to Wisconsin to review and place their sales orders personally with over 100 toy, game, gift, and book, companies. One vendor, Action Products International, reported an astonishing 380% increase on sales orders from this year’s show when compared to the prior year. Most shipments are scheduled to be sent in the third fiscal quarter to support the Learning Express Holiday catalog. Several vendors noted that they placed more orders in revenue during the two-day expo then they did from all retailers combined during the five-day American International Toy Fair held in February. Learning Express said it expects the orders written by its stores to total more than $4 million, about double the orders written last year.

Listed below are the 2004 Learning Express vendor winners:

Partnership Award: Small World Toys
Given to the vendor who has diligently worked with Learning Express to create outstanding sales programs to spur growth for both companies.

You Can Count On Us Award: Action Products International
Awarded to a vendor who always steps up to the plate when asked to help sponsor an event

Best New Vendor: Maxim Enterprise
Granted to a company that displays an eagerness to work within our franchise system and works closely with storeowners in developing strong relationships.

Best Retailer Customer Service: Creativity for Kids
Presented to the vendor that displays quick responsiveness to discrepancies, quick order entry, communicates frequently, is responsive to returns and/or defectives, is always in-stock throughout the year, has quick turn-around from order entry to shipment and is overall accurate.

Best Support Programs: RC2
Given to the vendor providing on-line ordering capabilities, supplies product training materials for our employees, offers free demos and signage which increases sales of an item, provides free displays and fixtures and offers suggested merchandising layouts.

Best Marketing Campaign Award: Manhattan Toy
Presented to a vendor for the sponsorship of an event or campaign that resulted in increased traffic and sales to Learning Express' network of stores without a reduction in gross margin. Manhattan Toys' campaign to buy $30 in Groovy Girl products, and get a beautiful bed FREE (retail value of $24.99) resulted in almost 2000 beds - a win-win for all.

Vendor of the Year Award: Melissa & Doug
Awarded for providing outstanding retail customer service, for developing new and innovative products, for supporting all our marketing efforts, for saying "yes" more than saying "no" and for holding Learning Express in the highest esteem.

Additional Top 10 Vendor List: Alex, International Playthings, Lego, Playmobil and Ty

Most Innovative Toy of the Year: Snap Circuits from Elenco
Based on originality, creativity and leading edge in design

Individual Product Awards
 

About Learning Express
Learning Express Toys has more than 100 owner-operated locations in 28 states, and each one offers thousands of high-quality, innovative products - including games and puzzles, child developmental toys, arts and crafts kits, science and nature products, construction toys, books, dolls, plush and more. In addition, Learning Express offers free in-store workshops and events for kids and parents.

The stores offer special services like gift registries, a frequent buyer discount program, free gift-wrapping and personalizing. Store owners proudly support their local communities through fund-raising programs for schools and civic organizations and through discounts to educators and day care providers.

The company is headquartered in Devens, Mass. and each store is individually owned through a franchise system. The original Learning Express store in Acton, Mass. is owned by a private preschool and receives annual proceeds to support school programs.
For more information on Learning Express or to own a Learning Express franchise, visit its website at www.learningexpress.com.