November 27, 2006Coinstar Signs Up With WH Smith on Gift Card ProgramGift Cards: Coinstar signs up W.H. Smith for gift card program, this on a day that also saw a lot of industry updates on Coinstar including Trading Markets and Seeking Alpha. Coinstar is First to Sign Major Retailer to Gift Card Mall Program in the United Kingdom Popular British Retailer WHSmith will carry Gift Card Mall BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) today announced that its subsidiary Coinstar Limited has signed major U.K. retailer WHSmith to its Gift Card Mall program. This well-known retailer is the first major retailer in the United Kingdom to deliver a Gift Card Mall program, initially made popular in the United States. "By teaming with WHSmith we have access to one of the biggest retail names in Britain," said Steve Verleye, senior vice president and general manager of Coinstar’s E-pay services. “The U.K. Gift Card Mall program represents an important new development in Coinstar’s U.K. product offering and allows us to share our gift card expertise with WHSmith." The Gift Card Mall consists of a display rack of popular retailers including department stores, clothing, and electronics, as well as experience cards such as holidays, sporting events, and movie going. The program gives the host retailer an innovative, turnkey product to drive incremental traffic, sales and profits into the store. In addition, it also creates a new way for consumers to buy gifts in the form of gift cards for their friends and family. The program will launch this month in the U.K. with a nationwide roll-out in more than 540 WHSmith’s stores. Additional U.K. retailers are expected to be added to the program over the coming months. “As leaders in the gift card market it is a logical move for us to sign with Coinstar’s Gift Card Mall service. Coinstar’s U.S. experience will put WHSmith into an even stronger position to take advantage of this rapidly growing market,” said Ian Sanders, Head of Commercial Development at WHSmith. The U.K. gift card market is expected to grow from £3 million in 2005 to approximately £2.1 billion by 2007 (source: Giftex Research 2005). About WHSmith WHSmith is made up of 543 high street stores and 129 airport and station stores. The high street business sells a wide range of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books and entertainment products, while WHSmith Travel sells a tailored range of newspapers, magazines, books and confectionery products for people on the move. In addition, WHSmith Direct – www.whsmith.co.uk - serves customers on the internet 24 hours a day. About Coinstar, Inc. Coinstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSTR) is a multi-national company offering a range of 4th Wall™ solutions for the retailers’ front of store consisting of self-service coin counting, electronic payment solutions, money transfer, entertainment services and self-service DVD rental. The company’s products and services can be found at more than 60,000 retail locations including supermarkets, financial institutions, drug stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, and restaurants. For more information, visit www.coinstar.com. Coinstar is First to Sign Major Retailer to Gift Card Mall Program in the United Kingdom |