WOONSOCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2000--CVS Corporation
(NYSE:CVS), the nation's leading retail pharmacy, today announced
that it has joined 10 other major international retailers in forming
a collaborative partnership to establish the WorldWide Retail
Exchange. The new web-based, business-to-business exchange
is expected to begin operating mid-2000. It is designed to facilitate
and simplify trading between retailers and over 100,000 suppliers,
partners and distributors.
Along with CVS, the participants are Albertson's (US), Auchan
(France), Casino (France), Kingfisher (UK), K-Mart (US), Marks
Spencer (UK), Royal Ahold (The Netherlands), Safeway, Inc. (US),
Target (US) and Tesco (UK). Together, the group operates over
30,000 stores and had 1999 combined sales of over $300 billion.
Other prominent retailers are also invited to join the exchange
and have expressed interest in the initiative.
"WorldWide Retail Exchange will be the largest Internet
exchange company of its kind, and our participation in this venture
reflects our commitment to using technology to grow our business
and remain competitive as an innovative retailer," said Tom Ryan,
Chairman and CEO of CVS/pharmacy.
The WorldWide Retail Exchange is a web-based marketplace,
enabling transactions between retailers operating in the food,
general merchandise and drugstore sectors. It is an open exchange
and provides an information highway of publicly available item
data together with private price and promotion information between
multiple buyers and sellers. The exchange will also provide the
means for auctioning products.
Participating companies anticipate interaction on the WorldWide
Retail Exchange to be more efficient due to standardized item
information. The WorldWide Retail Exchange is expected
to lower costs in the supply chain for all participants.
Currently, CEOs of the participating companies, or their representatives,
form the Executive Committee of the exchange. In the future, the
WorldeWide Retail Exchange is expected to be an independently
managed company. The founding members will review major technologies
and invite IT companies to work with the exchange.
In the first few years, investments in the collaborative partnership
are expected to amount to approximately $100 million. Savings
generated from WorldWide Retail Exchange are expected to
rapidly exceed costs.
CVS is the largest retail provider of prescription in the nation.
The Company is the #1 drugstore chain in the U.S., with approximately
4,100 stores in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Mid-West
regions of the country. General information about CVS, including
corporate background and press releases, is available at CVS'
web site at www.cvs.com.
CONTACT:
CVS Media Contact Todd Andrews
401-770-5717
or
Investor Contact
Nancy Christal
914-722-4704
10:52 EST MARCH 31, 2000
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