Hastings Entertainment Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary Holiday Season by Introducing Its Christmas 2008 'The Perfect Gift' List Based on Shopping Results of Thanksgiving Weekend

Hastings Entertainment Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary Holiday Season by Introducing Its Christmas 2008 'The Perfect Gift' List Based on Shopping Results of Thanksgiving Weekend

AMARILLO, Texas, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hastings Entertainment, Inc. - Discover Your Entertainment (NASDAQ:HAST), a chain of 154 multimedia home entertainment stores, today announced its 2008 Christmas "The Perfect Gift" list, based on the top-selling gift items since Thanksgiving weekend. Shoppers have voted and "The Perfect Gift" list can even help the shopping challenged find the most fun and exciting gifts this Christmas season.

Hastings features one of the most diverse collections of home entertainment products in the country. This year, the stories and sounds of the movie Twilight, adapted from the popular Stephenie Meyer Twilight series of teen books, topped the list of the most sought after gifts of the weekend shopping spree. Movies and Hastings-exclusive toy products from the ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham also stood out among the crowd. With Blu-Ray winning the high-def video format battle, customers stocked up on Blu-Ray players and discs. More and more people were choosing stay-at home entertainment. Popular movies such as Hancock, Wall-E and Fred Claus were also top sellers. iPods, as well as Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 video game systems, were in demand.

In light of the current economic environment, Hastings introduced the "Have Christmas on Hastings" program in which customers can sell back used entertainment for store credit and then spend it on Christmas Gifts. "The program so far is a real hit with thousands of holiday shoppers," said Kevin Ball, Vice President of Marketing for Hastings. "Everyone has unwanted books, CDs, movies and games around the house. We've made it easy to turn unwanted clutter into gifts for other people. It helps you save money and improve your world. Everyone wins," said Ball.

About Hastings

Founded in 1968, Hastings Entertainment, Inc. is a leading multimedia entertainment retailer that combines the sale of new and used books, videos, video games and CDs, as well as trends merchandise, with the rental of videos and video games in a superstore format. We currently operate 154 superstores, averaging approximately 20,000 square feet, primarily in medium-sized markets throughout the United States.

We also operate www.gohastings.com, an e-commerce Internet Web site that makes available to our customers new and used entertainment products and unique, contemporary gifts and toys. The site features exceptional product and pricing offers. The Investor Relations section of our web site contains press releases, a link to request financial and other literature and access our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: Hastings Entertainment, Inc.

CONTACT: Cherie Norman, +1-806-677-1482, cherie.norman@hastings-ent.com,
or Dan Crow, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, +1-806-351-2300, ext.
6000, both of Hastings Entertainment, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.gohastings.com/

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