BATTERY MAKER GOING INTO RETAIL

NEWBURY PARK - In this deal, batteries are included.

Breaking out beyond the wholesale market, Battery-Biz Inc. willenter retail stores with a new line of rechargeable batteries,hitting Wal-Mart, Fry's Electronics and Best Buy stores just in timefor the holiday toy and hand-held electronics rush.

"This is definitely a big shift," Jessie Taxe, director ofmarketing for Battery-Biz, said Monday. "For the first time, we'remaking a big push to get into retail. We've gotten in with a lot ofbig retailers and re-sellers and are broadening what we can do forcustomers."

Sold under the Hi-Capacity name, the product line includeslithium ion, nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium batteries andchargers. Rather than focusing on the vast consumer electronicsmarket, taking on stalwarts like Duracell and Energizer, Battery-Biz instead focuses on replacement charges for digital cameras,laptops and cellular phones. While the company has experience in thewholesale market dating back to 1988, this will be its first majorpush into retail.

The privately held company declined to release sales figures, butTaxe said the company is expecting 48 percent growth in revenue nextyear as a result of its new retail presence. A profile in lastmonth's Baseline Magazine projected this year's revenue at $25million, a number that Taxe did not dispute. No specific figuresexist for the total battery market, but the Portable RechargeableBattery Association says the number of applications are growing.

"Five years ago, you didn't have portable DVD players and digitalcameras," said Norm England, president of the Atlanta-based tradegroup. "You've got all these applications brought to the forefrontby the new technologies."

With the new technologies comes added complications, however.Since Battery-Biz positions itself as an alternative to manufacturer-supplied parts, consumers can find themselves with a confusing arrayof choices. While some digital cameras require only easy-to-recognize AA batteries, the much more complex systems used bycomputers and power tools must be matched precisely to the device.

"The main thing is that the specs are the same, the voltage, thetype," said David Brooks, who writes the Digital Help column for thephotography magazine Shutterbug. "You need to warn people to look atthe manual, because they'll go to the store, they won't have theinstruction book and they'll ask the minimum-wage clerk which one tobuy. They don't know, it won't work, and then they've got the hassleof having to take it back."

Anticipating this, Battery-Biz will give retailers access to itsInternet database and toll-free phone numbers, allowing shoppers tofind what battery their gadget requires without trial and error.

"One of the biggest barriers to entering into the industry isthat there's so much information," Taxe said. "Unless the consumerknows what they need, they're in the dark."

Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com