Shaq & Dunk Party In Old Town Pasadena

PASADENA, CA -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 11/08/00 -- Amidst a crowd of fans and shoppers today, L.A. Laker superstar Shaquille O'Neal hosted an informal celebration of the retail debut of Dunk at the popular athletic footwear store Neo 39 in Pasadena. He was joined by Neo 39 store owner Moses Cho, store general manager Al Solis and Dunk president Robert Hollander. At the event O'Neal presented a pair of his size 22 Dunk Chromz basketball shoes to the store and gave the public a glimpse his new footwear, the Dunk Chromz MVP, which he will play in this season.

"Digital Dunk has gone analog too," said Shaquille O'Neal. "If you're digital like me, you get your Dunk Chromz online. If you're still analog, that's cool too, because now you can get Dunk gear at Neo 39. Either way, it's a slam dunk!"

Dunk the athletic footwear and apparel company and maker of official on-court footwear for NBA champion and MVP O'Neal, recently broadened its distribution beyond online sales to include direct mail and retail. Neo 39 is first retail store in the country to sell Dunk products. Previously, Dunk footwear and apparel were only available for purchase via the Internet.

Neo 39 will carry a wide selection of Dunk basketball and cross training footwear. "Neo is the kind of store that "discovers" hot young brands so Moses and I made sure we were the first to carry Dunk shoes," said Solis. "Dunk is a small company and they only make a few styles of footwear but they're high caliber. After all, Shaq wore his Dunks all the way to the championships last year." In addition to Neo 39, Dunk recently began shipping its footwear and apparel to a number of retail outlets including trend-setting stores Double Play and Hip Hop Connection in Los Angeles and City Blue in Philadelphia. Dunk has also opened Eastbay, the direct marketing leader in sporting goods for the performance athlete. A two-page spread of Dunk footwear and apparel will be featured in Eastbay's November catalog.

"When Dunk launched online earlier this year, we knew it was just a matter of time before we could meet retail demand for Dunk gear in stores and catalogs," said Hollander. "Consumers and retailers alike were clamoring for our products; we're thrilled at their enthusiasm and happy to oblige. This event at Neo may not seem like a big deal to other sports companies, but to us it's a great achievement and we're thankful for that."

Dunk sales and marketing teams are currently meeting with retailers across the country solidifying Spring 2001 orders. Highlights of Dunk's new footwear line include the Chromz MVP3 an upgraded "championship" version of the Chromz shoe which O'Neal wore last season, the DRT1, a lightweight, running-inspired training shoe and the DRS1, a leather slip on with athletic styling. Dunk's Spring '01 apparel line will debut the Chromz MVP Championship Collection which features warm ups, jackets, game shorts and tees inspired by O'Neal's winning season.

Dunk.net is a performance athletic footwear and apparel company with a proprietary technology that enables consumers to customize Dunk products on its Web site, www.dunk.net. Dunk.net is a privately held company based in Santa Monica, California.