Exchange Holds Summit to Educate & Enlist Suppliers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 25, 2001) -The WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE), the premier business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers, today announced that SCA Hygiene Products, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of hygiene products, has joined the Exchange as its first supplier member.

"SCA Hygiene Products is the first supplier to join the Exchange and represents a significant step forward in our continued efforts to build a neutral and collaborative online marketplace," said Colin Dyer, CEO of the WWRE. "We look forward to their participation and involvement in developing - and using - Exchange solutions that increase efficiencies and reduce costs throughout the supply chain."

"We believe that future commercial success will be predicated on increasing levels of collaboration between us as supplier and our retail customers. The WWRE is offering both the forum and the tools for this collaborative approach," comments Stefan Angwald, president of SCA Hygiene Products. "We are proud of being the first supplier of the WWRE and thereby proving that we are willing to play our role as a leading European Hygiene Products company."

The WWRE, which has always recognized the importance of supplier membership to the liquidity, viability and neutrality of the Exchange, opened membership to suppliers in June. In an effort to continue educating and communicating with suppliers, the WWRE hosted the summit for major retail industry suppliers to discuss the solutions, benefits and value the Exchange offers.

Announcement Follows Successful Supplier Summit
The WWRE announced SCA Hygiene's membership on the same day it held a meeting for some of the nation's largest suppliers. Representatives from nearly 60 companies representing food, general merchandise, textile/home, and drugstore products were in attendance at the summit, which featured presentations by WWRE management and retail members, a Q&A panel discussion addressing specific supplier issues, and product overviews and demonstrations.

"We want suppliers to know that the WWRE and our current retail members are completely committed to their participation and involvement in the Exchange," said Dyer. "We want full supplier involvement on the Exchange. The summit today served as a neutral meeting of suppliers and retailers to discuss ways in which the Exchange will improve supply chain interactions and reduce costs."

As members, suppliers will be invited to participate in the ongoing development of products and services and will have access to all of the product offerings currently available on the Exchange, including:

• Auctions and RFx products, which suppliers can use to procure goods from their manufacturers and vendors;
• VICS CPFR® (a registered trademark of the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards), which will allow suppliers to accurately plan and forecast inventory and stock levels; and
• Catalog, where suppliers can post their inventory in a global, standardized format for easy access by the Exchange's global membership base.

About SCA Hygiene
SCA Hygiene Products is part of the SCA Group and one of Europe's leading manufacturers of hygiene products for Consumer, Away From Home and Incontinence use. SCA Hygiene had sales in 2000 exceeding $3 billion Euro. The company operates in more than 40 countries worldwide, and is the parent company for important hygiene brands such as Zewa, Edet, Velvet, Libero, Libresse, Tena and Tork. More information is available at www.sca.com.

About the WWRE:
The WWRE is the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange in the retail e-marketplace. The Exchange was created with the fundamental purpose of reducing costs and improving efficiencies throughout the supply chain, employing product and service solutions typical of a global procurement and supply operation. Designed to facilitate and simplify trading between retailers, suppliers, partners and distributors, the WWRE currently consists of 55 global members from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America with combined sales totaling over U.S. $820 billion. To date, the WWRE has saved its members over $85 million through the use of Auctions, its first product offering. For more information, visit the website at www.wwre.org or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.

WWRE Members:
Albertson's (U.S., NYSE: ABS)
Auchan (France)
Best Buy (U.S., NYSE: BBY)
The Boots Company (U.K., LSE: BOOT.L)
C&A Europe (Belgium)
Casino (France, Parisbourse: 12558)
Coop Italia (Italy)
Coop Schweiz (Switzerland)
Cora (France, PSE: 06176)
CVS/pharmacy (U.S., NYSE: CVS)
Dairy Farm International (Hong Kong, SES: DAIR.SI/Reuters, DAIRYNEW SP/Bloomberg)
Dansk Supermarked (Denmark)
Delhaize Group (Belgium, BSE: DEL)
Dixons Group plc (U.K., LSE: DXNS)
Edeka (Germany)
El Corte Ingles (Spain)
Galeries Lafayette (France, Parisborse: 12124)
Gap Inc. (U.S., NYSE: GPS)
Giant Eagle (U.S.)
H.E. Butt Grocery Company (U.S.)
Hy-Vee Inc. (U.S)
JCPenney (U.S., NYSE: JCP)
John Lewis (U.K., JLH)
Jusco (Japan, TSE: 8267)
Kesko (Finland, HEX: KES)
Kingfisher (U.K., LSE: KGF)
Kmart Corporation (U.S., NYSE: KM)
Laurus (The Netherlands)
Longs Drugs (U.S., NYSE: LDG)
Makro Asia (Bangkok)
Marks & Spencer (U.K., LSE: MKS)
Meijer, Inc. (U.S.)
Otto Versand (Germany)
Publix Super Markets (U.S.)
RadioShack Corporation (U.S., NYSE: RSH)
REWE (Germany)
Rite Aid Corporation (U.S., NYSE, PSE: RAD)
Royal Ahold (The Netherlands, NYSE: AHO)
SCA Hygiene Products (Sweden)
Safeway Inc. (U.S., NYSE: SWY)
Safeway plc (U.K., LSE: SFW.L)
Schlecker (Germany)
Seibu Department Stores Ltd. (Japan)
ShopKo Stores, Inc. (U.S., NYSE: SKO)
Sobeys Inc. (Canada, TSE: SBY)
SUPERVALU INC. (U.S., NYSE: SVU)
Target Corporation (U.S., NYSE: TGT)
Tengelmann Group (Germany)
Tesco (U.K., LSE: TSC.OL)
Toys R Us (U.S., NYSE: TOY)
Walgreen Co. (U.S., NYSE: WAG)
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. (U.S.)
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. (U.S., NYSE: WIN)
Wooltru Ltd. (South Africa, JSE: WLO)
Woolworths (Australia, ASX: WOW)

 

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