HDA Merchandising Announces Technology Upgrade

Company Adds Industry-Leading Project Management Software

ST. LOUIS - February 26, 2008: St. Louis-based HDA Merchandising, an affiliate of HDA, Inc. which distributes, publishes and merchandises book and magazine inventory for retailers, today announced a significant technological upgrade designed to further strengthen its customer service. Through a new partnership with South49 Solutions, HDA Merchandising will be using the new web-based NaturalInsight workforce tool to schedule, monitor and report on projects in the field with unmatched speed and accuracy.

"We have more than 1,100 field representatives using this new system to service more than 2800 retail locations across the country," says Kim Baalman, Director of Store Service at HDA. "With NaturalInsight we will be able to more easily staff, manage and track jobs involving tens of thousands of individual store visits." HDA Merchandising services a wide variety of specialty retail outlets including Lowe’s, Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Macy’s. Using the new program, HDA Merchandising employees will be able to view, accept and report work assignments by logging on to a web-based dashboard that provides details and requirements for each store visit. This will increase the ease and efficiency of communication between HDA Merchandising’s field employees, corporate headquarters and its multiple customer headquarters.

"In every aspect of our business, from publishing, distribution, supply management and merchandising we strive to provide our customers with outstanding and immediate support," says Baalman. "We have some of the best service representatives in the industry, and we want to equip them with the best technology available so they can manage their daily workflow with greater speed and efficiency."

NaturalInsight tools rolled out on January 16th. Enhancements in the program are ongoing to meet the needs of our merchandisers and HDA’s customers. For additional information, please visit www.hdamerchandising.com or call (314)770-2222.

About HDA, Inc.

HDA, Inc. headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is the country’s largest distributor and category manager of books and magazines to retail outlets. HDA currently distributes more than 350,000 books, magazines and CD's weekly and has the warehouse and distribution capacity to expand output to more than 1,000,000 units weekly. The company also publishes its own books, magazines, home plans, project plans, wall murals and kits for creating Yard Art. HDA was founded in 1983 by Robert Ketterer and George Bearer.