Exhibit
99.1
Shareholder
Update Letter
August
14, 2008
To
all
our valued shareholders,
Although
I have met many of you already, for those I have not had the pleasure of
meeting
yet, my name is Jeff Hoffman and I was brought in at the beginning of the
4th
quarter
of 2007 as uBid.com Holdings’ new Chief Executive Officer.
My
assignment was to determine how to improve the Company’s financial performance,
and maximize shareholder value. To start that process, I spent the last part
of
2007 studying, analyzing and evaluating the business as a whole. One thing
was
certainly clear - after ten years of operating losses, something had to change.
Based on my analysis and the Company’s history of losses, I decided that the
entire business model needed to be re-evaluated, redefined, and re-launched
with
a well defined focus on a large and profitable market sector. The results
of my
study and analysis led to a comprehensive transformation of the business
model
and strategy, as well as a restructuring process that the Company has been
executing since early in the first quarter of 2008, and will continue to
execute
through the second quarter of 2008 and beyond.
The
new
strategy was structured to take advantage of the Company’s true assets, which
position the Company for market leadership that capitalizes on ten years
of hard
work. Over the last decade, uBid has built relationships with over 7,000
name
brand and reputable manufacturers and retailers. These customers have been
utilizing the auction platform to solve supply chain issues with excess
inventories. uBid has also collected over 6,000,000 users, and has built
an
impressive traffic flow of millions of monthly visitors to the site. A
tremendous amount of investment has been made in technology over the past
ten
years, and the auction platform has historically handled over $600,000,000
per
year in transaction gross revenue.
The
focus
of the previous business model, however, was that of a direct marketing company
operating an online auction marketplace for any and all approved sellers.
For
this strategy to have worked, uBid would have had to overtake the market
leader
with over 95% market share in the online auction marketplace. It was my
conclusion that this was at best an immensely difficult goal to achieve,
and
history seems to have proven my point.
In
order
to best leverage what I believe to be the true assets of this Company, I
replaced the marketplace business model with a comprehensive asset recovery
solutions business model, consisting of a holding company operating the five
sales channels (the existing auction channel plus four new channels) which
we
needed to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive solution. In accordance with
my plan, a major portion of the implementation of the new strategy, as well
as
the restructuring process along with efforts and expenses related to it,
was
performed in Q1 and Q2 of 2008. The Company anticipates the positive results
we
are beginning to see early in Q3 of 2008 will only escalate going forward.
Put
simply, I made the decision to restructure and invest in the new business
model
in Q1 and Q2 of 2008, as opposed to focusing on potential short term band-aid
solutions for profit, and prepare this company for a much larger, long-term
opportunity to create shareholder value.
The
Company expects all aspects of the new business model will be fully implemented
by the end of 2008 or early 2009, and that results of restructuring will
start
having a more profound impact on the Company and its results of operations
at
that time.
Enable
Holdings, Inc., our new corporate name, which is traded on the NASDAQ OTC
bulletin board under the ticker symbol ENAB.OB, will serve as the holding
company to the five sales channels it will encompass: on-line auction website
uBid.com, fixed-price commerce website RedTag.com, online business-to-business
sales channel Dibu Trading Corporation, offline excess inventory solution
channel RedTag Live!, and private auction software channel Commerce Innovations.
This lineup gives us the most complete excess inventory and asset recovery
solution in the marketplace.
For
manufacturer, distributor and retail clients, Enable Holdings offers a
comprehensive and very unique solution to solve their asset recovery needs.
To
the end consumer, the Company, through its five sales channels, offers a
value
proposition that enables customers to have an “inside connection” to purchase
name brand excess merchandise at compelling prices.
Investors
and shareholders should be aware that they are investing in a company with
a new
business model, a new name and a new approach. Although the Company’s loss has
increased and sales are down compared to the six months ended June 30, 2007,
due
to the Company’s investment in the new business model and restructuring as
described above and further explained in our form 10-Q for Q2 of 2008, my
administration and I are focused and determined on achieving a long-term
leadership position in the market, and we believe that the Company’s initiatives
will reflect that going forward.
The
new
holding company website is located at www.enableholdings.com
Thank
you
for your continued support and patience, and I look forward to keeping you
abreast of our progress as milestones are achieved. As always, your comments
and
suggestions are welcome, and I can be reached at JeffH@ubid.com.
Sincerely,
Jeff
Hoffman
Chief
Executive Officer
SEC
Filings and Forward-Looking Statements
Additional
information about Enable Holdings, Inc. is in the company’s annual report on
Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Certain
statements made in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements
using terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“intend,” “may,” “could,” “possible,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “will,”
“forecast,” and similar words or expressions. Enable Holdings, Inc. intends that
all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor provisions of
the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements are
based
on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts
about the business of Enable Holdings, Inc. and the industries and markets
in
which Enable Holdings, Inc. operates. These statements are not guarantees
of
future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which
are
difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ
materially from what is expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Factors which may affect the forward looking statement identified
above and Enable Holdings, Inc.'s business, financial condition and operating
results generally include the effects of adverse changes in the economy,
reductions in consumer spending, declines in the financial markets and the
industries in which Enable Holdings, Inc. and its partners operate, adverse
changes affecting the Internet and e-commerce, the ability of Enable Holdings,
Inc. to develop and maintain relationships with strategic partners and suppliers
and the timing of its establishment or extension of its relationships with
strategic partners, the ability of Enable Holdings, Inc. to timely and
successfully develop, maintain and protect its technology and product and
service offerings and execute operationally, the ability of Enable Holdings,
Inc. to attract and retain qualified personnel, the ability of Enable Holdings,
Inc. to successfully integrate its acquisitions of other businesses, if any,
and
the performance of acquired businesses. Enable Holdings, Inc. expressly
disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements,
except as otherwise specifically stated by Enable Holdings, Inc.