The NPD Group Appoints Dennis Brown Senior Industry Analyst

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, January 27, 2003 – The NPD Group, Inc., a leading provider of market information, announces the appointment of Dennis Brown to senior industry analyst. Brown will analyze and report on the appliance and housewares industry for the company’s NPD Houseworld division.

Brown joins The NPD Group with more than 20 years of experience in marketing, sales and general management within the consumer products industry. Brown is a former COO of Krups North America and most recently was senior vice president with World Kitchen, Inc., where he led the sales, distribution and marketing departments for the $1 billion housewares company.

"Dennis Brown’s broad industry background in both the non-electric and electric appliance businesses will provide a new level of expertise to the NPD Houseworld service," said Tim Bush, president of NPD Houseworld. "He has a proven track record as a market leader in the home products industry and will be charged with bringing the data to life which will help our clients make fact-based decisions and improve revenue and profits."

In his new position, Brown will serve as NPD’s home products expert on trends and opportunities in the appliance and housewares industries. He will be responsible for providing industry insights, identifying market trends, speaking at industry events, responding to media inquiries and writing industry analyses.

"I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to help others understand and use NPD information," said Brown. "Fact-based information is critical in making intelligent business decisions, which is especially true in these economically challenging times. The information is extremely valuable to clients and I look forward to demonstrating the power of this data within the industry."

About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD) is a global market information company that measures product movement and consumer behavior across a broad range of industries -- apparel, automotive products, consumer electronics, cosmetics and fragrances, food, foodservice, footwear, housewares, information technology, interactive entertainment, toys and music. NPD's clients, many in the Fortune 500, use this insight to uncover market opportunities, strengthen channel relationships and benchmark industry performance. Since 1967, NPD has introduced numerous industry firsts, most recently combining and calibrating information from consumer panels and point-of-sale tracking via its flagship services, the NPD Worlds. The firm has offices and affiliations in 60 countries. For more information on The NPD Group, visit http://www.npd.com.

For more information:

Jarad J. Smith
jarad_smith@npd.com
703-376-6226

Sean P. Dolan
sean_dolan@npd.com
516-625-2288