COPYCENSE

"In June 2003, Best Buy transferred ownership of the Musicland Group to a private investment company, asking for nothing but the investors’ assumption of Musicland’s debt and lease obligations.

"Just over a year later, Musicland, of Minnetonka, Minn., has named Zimmerman Partners in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to handle its account, with billings estimated at $50 million. The two companies are poised to execute the next step in a turnaround plan: makeovers for the 900 stores that Musicland runs under the Sam Goody, Media Play and Suncoast Motion Picture brands, which collectively sell CD’s as well as entertainment products ranging from DVD’s to movie posters to books.

"The strategy envisions stores that embrace the Internet’s role in music sales and emulate the loungelike atmosphere of chains like Barnes & Noble and Starbucks."

Nat Ives. Musicland  Looks to the Internet. The New York Times. Aug. 24, 2004.

See also Richard Shim. Starbucks, HP Queue Up Music Coffeehouses. News.com. March 16, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)