Omni Nutraceuticals Inc.

[lifegear]

vitacost.com Acquires Healthshop.com and Three Other Sites From Omni Nutraceuticals; Acquisition Increases vitacost.com's Customer Base by 700 Percent and Enhances Profitability

Tuesday , February 13, 2001 09:01ET

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., Feb 13, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- vitacost.com, a privately-held direct-to-consumer online seller of nutritional supplements, announced today that it has acquired four e-health sites from Los Angeles-based Omni Nutraceuticals, including Healthshop.com, once ranked by Media Metrix and PC Data Online as one of the most visited e-health sites in the world with more than 1 million visitors per month.

The other sites, acquired in an all-stock transaction, include Healthzone.com, Smartbasics.com and Vitamindiscount.com.

Healthshop.com received $30 million in funding from companies that include Warner-Lambert, now a division of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), VantagePoint Venture Partners and Delphi Ventures.

The four acquired sites have ceased operation and their 240,000 customers are now being served through vitacost.com, increasing its customer base by 700 percent and significantly increasing revenue.

In 2000, vitacost.com had annualized revenues of $3.6 million, which represents approximately a 1,000 percent increase from 1996. With the addition of the current revenues of the four acquired companies, vitacost.com expects to immediately have annualized revenues of $7.2 million, a 100 percent increase from last year, and increased profitability.

"Of significant importance is that vitacost.com can manage this growth with minimal increases in overhead and costs while providing our new customers a significant savings (33-75 percent) when compared to other discounters or retailers," said Dr. Allen S. Josephs, president of vitacost.com. "vitacost.com achieved profitability prior to its acquisition of the four sites. We have achieved this level of success with approximately $500,000 in funding in the last 12 months versus other competitors such as Drugstore.com, PlanetRx.com and Mothernature.com which have failed to achieve profitability or even remain in business despite funding of $100 million or more.

"We have developed a business model that we believe will one day be considered the industry standard for running and growing a successful e-commerce company," said Josephs. "Delivering a product that has mass appeal and strict attention to the bottom line has enabled us to succeed."

In 1996, vitacost.com began as a trade catalog/mail order business and has since evolved into a leading online nutraceutical company that not only offers the best prices, but also offers lab analyses of top brand nutritional supplements backed by a scientific advisory board and independent laboratory analysis. The company also offers a five-star guarantee, ensuring customers a secure online shopping experience and quality service backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

In August 2000, vitacost.com relocated from Springfield, Ill. to Boynton Beach in an effort to support its rapid expansion, offering the company 300 percent more warehouse space than its previous facility. With the new state-of-the-art facility, vitacost.com estimates the ability to ship $100 million in products per year.


About vitacost.com


vitacost.com is the online destination consumers can trust for detailed information on nutritional supplements, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, antioxidants and nutraceuticals, and the first and only to offer consumers products at or below the published wholesale cost (33 to 75 percent below retail). vitacost.com provides consumers with analyses of top nutritional supplements tested by FDA-approved independent labs and evaluated by a distinguished scientific advisory board. The company also offers a five-star guarantee, ensuring customers a secure online shopping experience, a large selection of high quality/safe products at or below the published wholesale cost and expert service backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. vitacost.com has been reviewed and approved by Gomez, BBBOnLine Reliability, TRUSTe and Verisign.


CONTACT: Stoorza Communications, San Diego
Jim Key, 619/236-1332, ext. 276
[e-mail]
or
Carey McDaniels, 619/236-1332, ext. 262
[e-mail]

URL: http://www.businesswire.com
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.



Copyright (C) 2001 Business Wire. All rights reserved.


-0-


KEYWORD: FLORIDA ILLINOIS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
E-COMMERCE
INTERNET
MEDICAL
MERGERS/ACQ