January 2005 - InMotion Picks Up AltiTUNES
New York, NY - (Billboard.com) - InMotion, the retail chain that rents and sells portable electronics and movies, has purchased AltiTunes, which sells music, in a deal that will create a $40 million chain with 53 locations in airports across the United States.
Michael Freedman, co-founder of Jacksonville, Fla.-based InMotion, says the deal allows the chain to "create a one-stop shopping experience for all forms of entertainment for people on the move."
InMotion rents portable DVDs and movies to travelers, who return the products via FedEx. The AltiTunes deal will allow stores in both chains to offer a product mix that includes movies, music, portable electronics, games and headsets. But it will apparently take several months to integrate the two chains, starting in April.
InMotion says it expects to create national, regional and local in-store promotions that leverage the 300 million people that are exposed to the brand annually.
Of the 53 stores between the two concepts, 50 are in U.S. airports, two are in international airports, and AltiTunes has a store in the Grand Central Terminal in New York.