iMALL Inc. said it hired two key executives to further focus the company on e-commerce and will divest its seminar and training division.
The company said it discontinued the operations of its seminar and
training division based in Salt Lake City, and is in the process of
negotiating a sale of the division’s assets.
Mark Comer, who oversaw this division, resigned his position as president
of iMALL, the company said.
Management said it believes the low margin, highly competitive and non- recurring nature of this revenue stream makes the division incompatible with the company’s e-commerce focus. The division was not profitable and the company said it expects to sell the division’s assets for approximately their net book value, which is under $500,000, and does not expect to recognize a material loss as a result of the transaction.
Joining the company are Dan Odette, vice president of marketing, who will be responsible for overseeing brand development, strategic positioning and new product launches, and Ray Whitmer, senior system developer, who will lead key portions of the company’s Internet software development effort.
Odette most recently served as the Premium Services Director for AT&T WorldNet Service, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of Internet access, content and feature bundles for consumers. Whitmer most recently served as a senior developer consultant for Corel, a provider of business and Internet productivity tools.
“When we founded this business four years ago, the Internet was in its infancy
and our mission was to open businesses’ eyes to the world of the Web,” said
Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO of iMALL.
“Today, we have substantially completed the evolution that positions our company as a pure e-commerce enabler to small and medium sized businesses. In building our shopping Web site, which now hosts more than 1,600 merchants online, we gained critical knowledge about how to attract, maintain and service a large number of merchants and tens of thousands of products. We are now leveraging that expertise as we deliver a full range of e-commerce solutions to businesses through our numerous marketing relationships.”
iMALL offers its e-commerce services directly to merchants, as well as through
partnerships and it operates a shopping mall on the Internet, located at www.imall.com, with more that 1,600 hosted
storefronts.
