NEW RESET/REMODEL SYSTEM INCREASES VENDOR CONTRIBUTIONS UP TO 50%

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., May 17, 2002 -- Chains can improve their own retail merchandising procedures and increase profits with eSHELFT, a brand-new software and support system package from SPAR Group.

eSHELF is an automated reset/remodeling category management system for chains that speeds project completion and dramatically improves the equity of vendor participation in "fair share" programs sponsored by supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchants. A typical retail chain user experienced a 50+ percent increase in vendor labor hours when using eSHELF.

eSHELF includes a chain-specific database for schematic design (that SPAR will create in conjunction with retailer management when requested), plus automated deployment scheduling and vendor notifications. A system highlight is the calculation of fair share responsibilities for even the smallest participants, ensuring more accurate cost allocations and broader-based vendor contributions.

eSHELF also automatically bills all participants and even non-participants, thus minimizing errors, oversights and undercharges, while reducing administrative expenses There's a blitz tracking module for rush projects and a store mapping module that details shelf and fixture status.

Users will find that eSHELF significantly increases product availability and produces incremental sales, reduces the cost of remodels/resets and ensures compliance with space management strategies and fair share programs. eSHELF pricing results in, at a minimum, a cash neutral situation for the retailer. By delivering the finest centralized server-based retail merchandising system, eSHELF also boosts store employee productivity and increases retailer profits. It ends the paper-and-pencil management of category implementation.

SPAR Group, the leader in applying technology to retail merchandising, has invested millions developing proprietary Internet-based communications and deployment systems. Its 4,500+ merchandising specialists use these technologies to make more products available to more consumers -- faster, better and more effectively -- and increase ROI and profits for the retailer and product manufacturer.

SPAR has packaged several of these technologies into its eSHELF program for the internal use of individual retailers. In initial installations, eSHELF produced faster and more thorough in-store executions, lowered labor and administrative costs and greatly increased manufacturer participation.

In sum, eSHELF equips retailers with some of the finest computer and communications technologies in retail merchandising. It helps them reset or remodel their shelves with greater speed and accuracy. It increases chain management control of their merchandising process and boosts financial returns for all.

To learn more about eShelf, call SPAR Group at 914-332-1400,email servingyou@sparinc.com or check www.sparinc.com.