Hanover Direct Announces Launch of Company Kids; New Catalog and E-Commerce Home-Centric Brand To Focus on the Dynamic Youth Community

Business Wire, April 6, 2000

Business Editors

WEEHAWKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2000

Hanover Direct, Inc. (AMEX: HNV) today announced the launch of Company Kids(TM), a new home-centric brand targeted to satisfy the needs of the rapidly expanding youth community. Tailored to provide an array of home furnishings for infants, children and teenagers, Company Kids represents Hanover Direct's strategy to create unique shopping experiences geared to the needs of specific customer audiences via the introduction of strong, lifestyle positioned brands.

"Company Kids is being introduced as a response to the needs of the fast growing youth market," stated Rakesh K. Kaul, President and CEO of Hanover Direct, Inc., "while also strengthening our position as an industry leader in all segments of home furnishings. Early testing within The Company Store(R) catalog identified home fashions for youth to be an expansive earnings opportunity. To fully capture this segment opportunity, the strategic decision was made to offer a wide range of products needed for a young person's room under one brand, that completely meets the decorating needs of the young adult. Company Kids joins our portfolio of leading home-centric brands such as Domestications(R), The Company Store(R), Scandia Down(R), and Turiya(TM) and is expected to help accelerate top-line growth of our Hanover Brands, Inc. subsidiary."

An early version of Company Kids, with a limited, 94-product range, was tested in The Company Store catalog and e-commerce site during 1999. It is being rolled out as an independent 64-page catalog comprised of 315 products covering a broad range of categories. Presented by The Company Store, Company Kids offers the quality and value shoppers of The Company Store have known since 1911, with more designs that appeal to the young adult.

"The Company Store has successfully parlayed its keen understanding of the upscale home furnishings market into the area of infants, children and teenagers with Company Kids," Richard Hoffmann, President and Chief Operating Officer for Hanover Brands, Inc. stated. "This market segment has completely evolved, with an increasingly affluent and savvy parent looking for more specialized product, making this classification stronger than ever. Kids are an important part of the economy, and Company Kids uniquely meets their needs with furniture, bedding, bath, decor, and accessories."

Company Kids catalog offers a full spectrum of proprietary home merchandise as does its companion online shopping site, www.companykids.com. Consumers will also find links within The Company Store web site, to Company Kids and its products.

Company Kids will provide its customers with a level of service designed to match the quality of the merchandise. Company Kids shoppers can access customer service seven days a week/24 hours a day at 800-289-8508. "The Custom Shop" with its own expert seamstresses will allow the consumer the option of customizing purchases to suit their child's needs completely - tots, kids and teens will have the opportunity to create just about anything imaginable.

The Company Store (www.thecompanystore.com), located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is a leading, upscale home furnishings catalog and online company, and manufacturer of quality down products, providing design, comfort, and value since 1911. The Company Store is a part of Hanover Brands, Inc., the business-to-consumer subsidiary of Hanover Direct, Inc. (AMEX: HNV), a leading, specialty direct marketer with a diverse portfolio of specialty catalogs and proprietary products delivered via direct mail and electronic commerce.

About Hanover Direct, Inc.

Hanover Direct, Inc. (AMEX: HNV), and its business units, provide quality, branded merchandise through a portfolio of catalogs and e-commerce platforms to consumers, as well as a comprehensive range of Internet, e-commerce, and fulfillment services to businesses. Hanover Brands, Inc. is comprised of the Company's catalog and e-commerce web site portfolio of home fashions, apparel and gift brands, including Domestications, The Company Store, Turiya, Domestications Kitchen & Garden, Kitchen & Home, Encore, Improvements, The Safety Zone, Silhouettes, International Male, Undergear, Scandia Down, and Gump's By Mail. Hanover Direct is the exclusive distributor of the Compagnie de la Chine brand in North America; the Company owns Gump's, a retail store based in San Francisco; and the Company has a majority equity stake in Always In Style, LLC. Each brand can be accessed on the Internet individually by name. erizon, Inc. is comprised of Keystone Internet Services, Inc. (www.keystoneinternet.com), the Company's third party, end-to-end, fulfillment, logistics and e-care provider, and Desius, LLC, the Company's joint venture with RS Software (India), Ltd., offering 24/7-web shop services and e-commerce systems development. The division also services the logistical, IT and fulfillment needs of the Hanover Brands division. Information on Hanover Direct, including each of its subsidiaries, can be accessed on the Internet at www.hanoverdirect.com.