Montreal, Quebec, March 3, 2004 — Rogers Video is bringing its home entertainment experience to the Quebec market, an expansion that will see the largest Canadian-owned specialty video retailer invest some $50 million, open at least 50 new stores and hire approximately 1,000 employees over the next five years.

“We are a national retailer and it has always been our intention to expand across the entire country,” said Rogers Video president and CEO Chuck van der Lee. “After conducting the research, from both the marketing and real-estate standpoints, we believe this is a great opportunity for us to bring our concept to Quebec, and the most important place to start is in the Greater Montreal area.”

Rogers Video plans to open 10 to 12 new stores per year over the next five years. The first two Rogers Video stores in Quebec – in Ville LaSalle and Longueuil respectively – are slated to open next month, followed by outlets in Verdun and Angrignon. Each of the stores that Rogers Video is opening represents a $1 million investment in infrastructures alone and entails the hiring of between 15-20 employees. Most of the stores will have approximately 5,000 square feet of space.

“The fact that we are only now entering the Quebec market is largely because we wanted to make sure that everything was done right,” explained Mr. van der Lee. “When you are entering the second most populated area in the country, you don’t just pick sites at random. You have to have a serious network plan, and that is something that requires time to properly put together.

“We have extensively researched the Quebec marketplace and we sincerely believe the time is ripe for our company to expand into this area. Our product offerings will be adapted to the communities we are serving. We are going to be mindful of the differences in the Quebec marketplace.”

Rogers Video already has deep roots in the Greater Montreal area with Rogers AT&T Wireless having some 1000 employees in a McGill Street office complex, where Rogers Video administrative staff, headed by Jean Rickli, the vice-president and general manager for Quebec and Atlantic Region, will be located.

Mr. Rickli, a Quebec native with extensive background in the film and retail industry, said the Rogers Video stores in the province are being designed “to provide people with a different experience than what they are used to when they go to a video store.” Among the many distinctive features of Rogers Video stores in the Quebec marketplace will be an extensive library of films produced in Quebec, a wide assortment of foreign-language films and a vast supply of new releases, DVDs, cassettes and video games. Rogers Video stores carry, on average, some 6,000 titles.

In addition to a diversified inventory of videos, the local stores will have such other core offerings as confectionary items that Rogers Video is stocking exclusively in its Quebec operations, and a full line of Rogers AT&T Wireless services and products.

“We will be placing great emphasis on how we recruit and train our employees to provide friendly, top-notch service that will enhance the experience for the customer,” said Mr. Rickli. “Our stores in the Quebec market are going to be staffed by local talent, people who live in the communities where we do business. They will be movie experts who will be able to tell customers everything they want to know about movies. Our stores are being set up to be very much a part of the neighbourhoods that they are in, because we are a company that is extremely community-oriented.”

Based in Richmond, British Columbia, Rogers Video is the fifth largest video retailer in North America. Founded in 1988, Rogers Video owns and operates more than 280 home entertainment stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Yukon, with more than 4,000 employees nationwide.

Information: François Cartier Torchia Communications (514) 288-8290, ext. 214 (514) 594-1678 (cell)