AT&T Wins Multi-Year Services Contract With Aeropostale

HostReview.com
Tuesday, December 17, 2002; 12:00 AM

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Dec 17, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- AT&T announced today it has won a multi-year services contract from Aeropostale, Inc., a leading retailer of casual apparel and accessories. Included are web hosting, Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Frame Relay services, as well as local, long distance and international voice services -- all supported by AT&T's industry-leading global network. The terms of the contract call for an initial agreement of three years, valued at approximately $3.5 million.

AT&T's network-based services and applications support enable Aeropostale to connect more than 360 U.S. retail stores, linking inventory, warehousing, credit card and gift card data. Aeropostale employees will now gain access to real-time information on inventory availability through the AT&T network, enhancing customer service and supply management at the stores.

AT&T has also taken on the managed hosting of Aeropostale's website, http://www.aeropostale.com. AT&T's network will enable Aeropostale to reduce credit card transaction time from an average of 30-45 seconds to 2-3 seconds per transaction. Aeropostale will also benefit from reduced credit card company fees for instantaneous online transactions, as opposed to its former dial-up system.

As part of the Web-hosing service, AT&T manages an online retail catalogue as well as a Flash site where customers can create a virtual online character, chat with each other, and create and decorate an "Aero Room" when they register with the site. Customers are awarded points for purchases, which they can use to help decorate their personalized online room.

"AT&T has worked closely with us to develop the best way to exploit networking technology to support our business applications and store-support systems, especially as we have grown and made the transition from a private to a public company," said John Mills, president and chief operating officer of Aeropostale. "AT&T's extensive suite of services will bring new levels of efficiency in managing our inventories, reporting capabilities, and intra-company communications. We feel this relationship will directly enhance our business performance."

"We're pleased that Aeropostale has chosen the reliability, quality and unique value of AT&T's business services," said Ken Sichau, president of AT&T Business Sales. "Through AT&T's highly customizable suite of network services, Aeropostale will be able to easily add new capabilities or change its service mix at any time as its business grows or specific networking needs change."

New York-based Aeropostale went public in May 2002 and has shown strong growth over the past year, increasing its number of stores by well over 100. Its increased size and new financial-reporting requirements enhanced the company's need for a comprehensive, next-generation communications network to maximize efficiency.

"By using AT&T's network as the enabler to accelerate their business strategies, industry-leading companies are finding new ways to improve their business operations," said Robin Young, AT&T senior vice president for Managed Services.

About Aeropostale, Inc.

Aeropostale, Inc. (http://www.aeropostale.com) is a mall-based specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories that targets both young women and young men aged 11 to 20. The Company provides customers with a selection of high-quality, active-oriented, fashion basic merchandise in a high-energy store environment. The Company maintains complete control over the proprietary brand by designing and sourcing all of its own merchandise. Aeropostale products can be purchased only in its stores, which sell Aeropostale merchandise exclusively.

The first Aeropostale store was opened in 1987. The Company currently operates 369 stores in 35 states.

About AT&T

AT&T (http://www.att.com) is among the premier voice, video and data communications companies in the world, serving businesses, consumers, and government. The company runs the largest, most sophisticated communications network in the U.S., backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs. A leading supplier of data, Internet and managed services for the public and private sectors, AT&T offers outsourcing and consulting to large businesses and government. The company is a market leader in local, long distance and Internet services, as well as transaction-based services like prepaid cards, collect calling and directory assistance. With approximately $40 billion of revenues, AT&T has relationships with about 50 million consumers and 4 million business customers, who depend on AT&T for high-quality communications. AT&T has garnered several awards for outstanding performance and customer service.

AT&T 'Safe Harbor'

The foregoing are "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of AT&T.