FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Deborah Ellman
PR and Marketing Director
GreenMarketplace.com
(412) 420-6400

Josh Knauer
Founder & CEO
GreenMarketplace.com
(412) 420-6400
(412) 420-6404 (Fax)
ICQ#: 9800639
josh@greenmarketplace.com
http://www.greenmarketplace.com

Green E-Commerce and Goodwill Mean Good Works and Good Business

PITTSBURGH, PA - November 11, 1999 (INB) -- Internet shopping has never been so guilt-free. GreenMarketplace.com http://www.greenmarketplace.com, the leading on-line earth-friendly retailer, takes socially conscious e-commerce to a higher level with a partnership with Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh. Today, the green e-shopping site and Goodwill open a warehouse and distribution center, creating over 70 jobs and job training opportunities to start. The booming web company hopes to open five more centers across the United States with Goodwill Industries.

"It's a wise management of resources," said Fred Grandy, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, Inc. "The program taps an under-used pool of employees, and recycles overused natural reserves."

The Goodwill distribution center will fulfill orders with garbage-reducing, cost-reducing methods such as re-using cardboard boxes and shredded used office paper for protective package stuffing. The process will provide Goodwill trainees with severe mental disabilities the opportunity to learn a transferable skill, such as using shredding machines.

"We're proud to bring Goodwill into our business, just as it's really taking off," says Josh Knauer, CEO of GreenMarketplace.com. "Not only is this move cost effective for us, but also it supports our values of fair wages, opportunities and respect for workers."

GreenMarketplace.com offers a wide range of environmentally friendly items for home, office, body, garden, pets and more. The company has increased its high-tech staff by 1300% since March, and boasts a monthly 15% growth rate in sales. Knauer expects to handle $12 million in sales by 2002. That translates to 400,000 packages for Goodwill processing.

Goodwill Industries International is a network of 182 local, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada, and 45 international associate members in 34 countries. Each organization serves people with disabilities and other special needs by providing employment and training programs, as well as job placement opportunities. Through its services, the network helps people overcome barriers to employment and become independent, tax-paying members of their communities. In 1998, Goodwill Industries International served 320,848 individuals and reported $1.5 (b) billion in revenue.

Visit http://www.greenmarketplace.com -- the online catalog for healthy and natural products that are good for people and the planet.


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