November 18, 2008 13:35 ET

Sport Chalet Selects MarketLive eCommerce Suite for New eCommerce Website

MarketLive's Flexible eCommerce Technology Platform and Internet Strategy Expertise Will Create a Rich and Rewarding Multichannel Shopping Experience for Customers

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire - November 18, 2008) - MarketLive, Inc., the leading global eCommerce software and service provider for retailers, announced today that Sport Chalet, a full-service specialty sporting goods store with locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, has selected the MarketLive eCommerce Suite for the company's new website.

Phase one of the site, to be launched on November 22, 2008, will showcase Sport Chalet's winter and holiday merchandise and provide shoppers with innovative web experiences to increase awareness of merchandise and services available in Sport Chalet's stores. In 2009, Sport Chalet will launch phase two of the site to deliver a fully integrated online and offline shopping experience for customers, including in-store pickup of items ordered from the site.

"Our ambitious goals for the site meant we needed a partner that had the right combination of advanced yet flexible eCommerce technology and Internet strategy and best practices know-how," said Craig Levra, Chairman and CEO of Sport Chalet. "MarketLive was the right eCommerce platform company for us, and was able to meet our requirements and timeline. We look forward to our partnership with MarketLive as we build our new site and push the boundaries of multichannel retailing."

Other key factors that led to Sport Chalet's decision were MarketLive's retailing and branding expertise developed over 15 years in the eCommerce business, and the company's Intelligent Selling methodology, broad set of technology partners, and unique approach of deeply partnering with retailers to build and manage successful eCommerce businesses.

Sport Chalet, MarketLive and other partners are leveraging diverse technologies that will improve the company's eCommerce and brand performance. The new site's design and product imagery will increase sales and promote the new Sport Chalet brand. In addition, MarketLive's eCommerce technology platform, with its open and extensible architecture, will allow technologies from MarketLive's partner community to be integrated for a complete eCommerce solution. Together, the partners will help Sport Chalet meet its goal of delivering a fully integrated online and offline shopping experience in 2009.

These partners include Baazarvoice for customer ratings and reviews, Experian CheetahMail for email campaign management, and Shopatron for order management, enabling in-store pickup, customer support, and payment processing, among others.

"We welcome Sport Chalet, a forward-thinking and successful multichannel retailer, to our growing family of customers," said Mark Pierce, Chief Executive Officer, MarketLive. "Sport Chalet will benefit from both our Internet retailing expertise and our rich technology platform as we work to help them meet their business goals for the new site. We look forward to being part of Sport Chalet's eCommerce success."

About MarketLive

Since 1995, MarketLive, Inc. (www.marketlive.com) has provided enterprise-class eCommerce retail technology and services that help fast-growing companies successfully sell goods and services online. Designed to meet the unique requirements of catalogers, retailers, direct marketers, and manufacturers, the extensible MarketLive® eCommerce Suite and MarketLive's best practices-based Intelligent Selling® methodology enable merchants to enhance their customers' experience online while dramatically improving acquisition, conversion, and retention rates. The MarketLive platform is the most retail-targeted, fully featured, customizable eCommerce solution on the market today. MarketLive powers successful retail eCommerce sites, including Peruvian Connection, Bon-Ton Stores, Stride Rite, Vanity Shops, Gaiam, Wakeside, and TruSnow.

About Sport Chalet, Inc.

Sport Chalet, founded in 1959 by Norbert Olberz, is a leading operator of full service specialty sporting goods stores in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The Company offers over 50 services for the serious sports enthusiast, including backpacking, canyoneering, and kayaking instruction, custom golf club fitting and repair, snowboard and ski rental and repair, SCUBA training and certification, SCUBA boat charters, team sales, racquet stringing, and bicycle tune-up and repair throughout its 54 locations. The address for Sport Chalet's web site is www.sportchalet.com.