All-New International Store Locator Now Available!

The previous online “Atlas Dealer Locator” has been replaced by the all-new and vastly improved “International Store Locator”, now available on www.atlasrr.com; www.atlaso.com. Customers can now locate stores selling Atlas products in HO, N and O Scales at the click of a mouse! Colorful, easy-to-read interactive maps, explicit directions, and a legend are all included in this upgraded new locator, which went live on Monday, November 5, 2007.

The new International Store Locator has a wealth of features to make finding Atlas products quick and easy throughout the United States, Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. More countries will be added, and the system will be updated daily; a tremendous benefit for the stores as well as consumers.

Like the new Atlas Quarterly All Scales Catalog, the International Store Locator enforces the concept of Atlas as an “all scales company”, streamlining the process of finding desired Atlas products by making the database available in one spot. Stores carrying Atlas O and Atlas Model can be shown on the same map or standing alone, allowing the user to plan their purchasing trips and maximize their time.

A key on the side of the map indicates which stores carry which scales, depicted by preset colors. Numerical indicators show the stores nearest to the selected starting point – the lower the number, the closer the store. Once the destination is selected, mapping directions can be formulated or a general area map for the store can be requested.

Using a web browser, users simply enter their location and select from a variety of miles from their homes to start the search. Zooming into a specific area is easily accomplished by using the numbers along the bottom of the screen. The underlying engine is based on the MapPoint Web Service, a well-known and frequently updated Microsoft software program used for visualizing geographic information and translating it to map data. The International Store Locator will be accessible on some mobile devices that allow internet browsing.

“We want to identify stores selling Atlas products worldwide so we can put them on this exciting new service,” said Thomas W. Haedrich, CEO. “This is just the start. If a dealer has a website, it can be listed and we will have a direct link to it. Any store carrying Atlas products on their website will be included, just in time for the busy holiday season; an optimum time to assist shoppers in locating and visiting stores selling Atlas products. The system has the future potential to add such information as store hours, special events, special runs of Atlas products.”

To build the International Store Locator, Atlas worked with SpatialPoint, a Microsoft Certified Partner that focuses on building locators based on MapPoint Web Service and Virtual Earth. SpatialPoint was able to meet Atlas’ needs and delivered the project on time and on budget.

“In today’s busy world, we want our consumers to have every tool at their disposal,” Tom stated. “In combination with our all-new Atlas Quarterly All Scales Catalog, on-line A-Z Shipping Schedule, and all the other improvements we are constantly making to our literature and online services, the International Store Locator will take us light years in the right direction.”