Hartland, WI—(February 2010)—Batteries Plus, the nation's first and largest all battery retailer, enjoyed the best year in company history in 2009. With the help of a new website and even more hard work, they intend on producing an even better year in 2010.

With a new platform, navigation, database, content, and graphics, the new BatteriesPlus.com website launched on February 3, 2010. The upgrades now make it even easier for Batteries Plus customers to find the battery they're looking for and also locate the store that's closest to them.

"The rollout of our newly designed website is further proof of how dedicated we are to growing the Batteries Plus brand and strengthening our already dominant position as the number one battery retailer in the country," said Russ Reynolds, CEO of Batteries Plus.

"We grew visits to the BatteriesPlus.com website by more than 60 percent from 2008 to 2009 and we expect visits to increase by at least another 35 percent this year with the new site. The way people search for products is changing and we are providing an easy way for our customers to buy batteries online or find the closest store to them."

Having an award winning website is nothing new to Batteries Plus, who's seen great success in e-commerce and online search engine rankings. Batteries Plus ranks #76 for natural search in Internet Retailer's study of keyword use by 250 top retailers and took the top spot for the keyword phrase 'car batteries'.

While the BatteriesPlus.com website has made it easier for customers to find and purchase batteries, the Batteries Plus franchise owners have seen first hand how the website drives traffic to their stores. From 2008 to 2009, there was an 83 percent increase in visitors utilizing the "store locator" feature to find the closest store "The battery business as a whole has risen significantly over the past few years, but I've seen how powerful our website has become in helping drive customers to my stores," said Mark Jensen who owns multiple Batteries Plus locations in Illinois. "It seems that everyone who walks through the door has already been to the website to find our address and what kind of battery they need. They may walk in looking for one type of battery, but when they see all the batteries we have in stock, they end buying additional batteries for their other products as well."

Total consumer demand for batteries in the U.S. is expected to reach $33.6 billion by 2012, with market growth being driven by the steady demand for battery powered electronic devices such as cell/smart phones, laptop computers, digital cameras and camcorders. All of this points to Batteries Plus remaining one of the most attractive franchise opportunities for years to come.

"The downturn in the economy has shown which concepts are solid long term investments. Potential franchisees are looking for sustainable and fast-growing concepts like Batteries Plus, which continues to flourish in today's economic market," Reynolds said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Chad Nason, Fishman Public Relations, 847.945.1300 x234 or cnason[at]fishmanpr.com