New Members Include Retail, Digital Media and Content Experts DENVER, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BabyUniverse, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIDS), a leading eCommerce, eContent and new media company that provides comprehensive online resources for growing families, today announced its new board of directors. The new members include: Lauren Krueger, Edward Ulbrich, John Schaefer, Frank Rosales and Pam Abrams. "Our new board members bring a wealth of knowledge and a broad new perspective to BabyUniverse," said John Textor, Chairman of the Board of Directors for BabyUniverse. "With experience in retail, digital media, advertising, and parenting content, they provide great depth in our core areas: eContent and eCommerce." To reinforce its commitment to families, BabyUniverse is changing its name to The Parent Company. The change is expected to take effect in 30 days. As part of the name change process, BabyUniverse began trading under a new ticker symbol, KIDS, earlier today. BabyUniverse, Inc. Board of Directors: -- John C. Textor is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Textor has been Chairman of BabyUniverse's Board of Directors since November 2002 and a member of its Board of Directors since December 1999, and served as BabyUniverse's Chief Executive Officer since April 2005. He has also served as co-chairman of the board of directors of Digital Domain, Inc., a leading visual effects company focused on feature films, television commercials and video games, since May 2006. Mr. Textor is also the Founder and President of Wyndcrest Holdings, LLC, a Florida-based private holding company focused on technology-related opportunities in entertainment, telecommunications and the Internet, and its predecessor since 1997. Earlier, Mr. Textor was employed in various merchant banking and investment banking capacities by Shearson Lehman Hutton and Paine Webber. Mr. Textor was also a founding director of Lydian Trust Company, a diversified financial services company. He is currently a director of Multicast Media Networks, Inc., a global provider of Internet- based broadcast media. He was previously Chairman of the Board of Sims Snowboards, a prominent global snowboard brand. Mr. Textor earned a B.A. degree in Economics at Wesleyan University. -- Michael J. Wagner is President and Chief Executive Officer for BabyUniverse. Previously, Mr. Wagner served as President and Chief Executive Officer of eToys Direct, Inc. since it was formed in May of 2004. He was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for eToys Direct, Inc.'s predecessor, KB Online Holdings LLC, from May of 2000 until May of 2004 and was the Chief Financial Officer of KB Online Holdings, LLC from June 1999 to May 2000. He brings more than 20 years of financial and operational experience in the retail market, including 8 years of online and direct-to-consumer experience, to the organization. Previously, Mr. Wagner held a number of management positions at Consolidated Stores Corporation (now Big Lots) from June 1994 to June 1999, most recently as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Investor Relations. He also served in a number of positions at Value Merchants Inc. from August 1984 to June 1994, most recently as Corporate Controller. A Certified Public Accountant, he holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marquette University. -- Lauren Krueger is a vice president in the D. E. Shaw group's credit- related opportunities unit. Ms. Krueger has served as chief restructuring officer for FAO Schwarz Inc., and is deeply involved with several of the D. E. Shaw group's other private equity holdings. Prior to joining the D. E. Shaw group in 2003, Ms. Krueger was an associate in the restructuring group at Lazard LLC (formerly Lazard Freres & Co. LLC), where she worked on a number of high profile restructurings. Before that, she worked as an analyst in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s investment management group. Ms. Krueger also serves on the boards of directors of The Boyds Collection, Ltd. and Russ Berrie & Company, Inc. Ms. Krueger received her M.B.A. from Columbia University, where she was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society, and her A.B. from Princeton University. -- Ed Ulbrich oversees Digital Domain's commercial, music video, and interactive businesses and executive produces select feature films - roles he has held since joining as a founding executive in 1993. He executive produced the Academy Award-winning visual effects for Titanic and What Dreams May Come, and Fight Club, Zodiac and Adaptation; music videos for The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Nine Inch Nails, and other artists; 500+ commercials for clients including Heineken, American Express, Coca-Cola, BMW, and Microsoft; and location based entertainment. Prior to joining Digital Domain, Mr. Ulbrich was a commercial producer at the Leo Burnett Company and a digital artist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. In 2007, Mr. Ulbrich was named to the Creativity 50 - top innovators in advertising and design. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois. -- John Schaefer served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Brands, Inc., a subsidiary of IAC/InterActive Corp. and a family of leading catalog companies for the home, leisure and casual apparel from April 2005 to May 2007. From July 2004 to April 2005, Mr. Schaefer served as CornerStone Brands, Inc.'s President, Chief Operating Officer and Director and from April 2001 to July 2004 as its Chief Financial Officer. Currently, Mr. Schaefer serves as a consultant to certain portfolio companies of the D. E. Shaw group. Mr. Schaefer received his B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and is a C.P.A. -- Frank Rosales served as President of Discovery Commerce, the retail and global licensing arm of Discovery Communications. A 27-year retail veteran, Mr. Rosales has an impressive background in retail finance and operations. He began his career at Sears, Roebuck and Company, working in the company's finance operations. After leaving Sears, Mr. Rosales continued in a number of finance and operations roles in specialty retailing, including five years at the San Francisco-based store and mail order retailer, Gumps. Immediately prior to joining Discovery, Mr. Rosales was Chief Financial Officer for The Picture People, a nationwide chain of mall-based family portrait studios. In 1997, Mr. Rosales joined Discovery as Chief Financial Officer for Discovery Channel Stores and became Chief Operating Officer that same year. Mr. Rosales graduated in 1980 from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration majoring in Marketing. -- Pam Abrams is Senior Vice President at Downtown Bookworks Inc., a book- packaging company she joined in 2006. A 20+ year veteran of the magazine business (Harper's, Parents, Child) and editorial executive at eToys.com and Scholastic, Ms. Abrams has deep editorial experience in magazine, internet, and book publishing. As an authority on parenting, Ms. Abrams frequently appears on television and radio. She is the author of three books, Now I Eat My ABCs, Gadgetology, and The Only Bake Sale Cookbook You'll Ever Need. In addition she writes for magazines such as More, Oprah, and Parents. At Downtown Bookworks Ms. Abrams is producing books in the categories of kids, parenting, education, cookbooks, crafts, health, psychology, and pop culture. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Consumers Union. Ms. Abrams graduated from State University of New York in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. ABOUT BABYUNIVERSE BabyUniverse, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIDS) is a leading commerce, content and new media company for growing families. BabyUniverse provides comprehensive eCommerce and eContent resources to help families plan, play and grow. The company's toy business offers thousands of toys and children's products through its eToys.com web site, catalogs and strategic retail partnerships; and personalized dolls and accessories through its My Twinn.com brand. Through its baby business, the company is a leading online retailer of brand-name baby, toddler and maternity products sold through the BabyUniverse.com and DreamtimeBaby.com web sites. The company's luxury brands, PoshTots.com and PoshLiving.com, reach the country's most affluent consumers with luxury baby apparel and furnishings. With its content sites, BabyTV.com, PoshCravings.com and ePregnancy.com, BabyUniverse has established a recognized platform for the delivery of content and new media resources to a national audience of expectant parents. BabyUniverse is a market-leading digital content and eCommerce company focused on parents. DATASOURCE: BabyUniverse, Inc. CONTACT: Media, Joan Cear, +1-212-725-4500, , or Investors, Barry Hollingsworth, +1-303-226-6205, , both for BabyUniverse, Inc. Web site: http://www.babyuniverse.com/

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