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      CONTACT:
      Tim Carroll
      Vice President
      (425) 430-3253

                   FIROZ (PHIL) LALJI APPOINTED PRESIDENT AND
                    CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MULTIPLE ZONES

      RENTON, Washington (May 12, 1998) - Multiple Zones International, Inc.
      (NASDAQ: MZON) today announced the appointment of Firoz Lalji as
      President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

      Mr. Lalji, 51, is a founding investor in Multiple Zones and has served on
      its board since March of 1990. Since 1975 he has been the owner, President
      and Chief Executive Officer of Kits Cameras, Inc, which operates 145
      specialty camera stores in eight western states. In November of 1997 he
      sold Kits Cameras to Ritz Cameras, a national retailer with over 800
      stores. Since 1985 he has also served as owner, President and Chief
      Executive Officer of the Fana Group of Companies which owns real estate
      and hotels in the United States and Canada.

      Commenting on his new position, Lalji stated, "I bring a strong and very
      successful retailing background to Multiple Zones. At Kits Cameras we grew
      the organization from four small stores to a large diversified
      organization with over 700 employees and operations stretching from Alaska
      to New Mexico. Kits was the third largest specialty camera store chain in
      the nation and, as a private company, its operations financed all of its
      growth. At Kits, we successfully merchandised quickly changing technology
      products and created a sales organization focused on serving the needs of
      customers. At Multiple Zones, we have a quality management team, excellent
      vendor relationships and are well positioned for growth in this fast
      growing industry, the direct marketing of microcomputer products."

      Lalji stated that his immediate goals were to further enhance the
      visibility and merchandising within Multiple Zones' two flagship catalogs,
      The PC Zone(R) and The Mac Zone(R), grow the customer-direct outbound
      sales force and expand zones.com, the Company's electronic commerce web
      site. He commented, "Multiple Zones has great potential. We see incredible
      growth opportunities in electronic commerce where our sales from zones.com
      have exceeded our expectations. Through zones.com we are leveraging our
      well known brands, The PC Zone(R) and The Mac Zone(R), along with our
      well-developed inventory management and fulfillment capabilities. My
      overall goal is to focus on our core competencies toward maximizing
      shareholder value."

      John DeFeo, who had been President and Chief Executive Officer since
      January 1997, remains on the Board of Directors. Lalji commented, "John
      built a quality organization and implemented many programs which position
      the Company for future growth. His 

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      continuing counsel on the Board will be appreciated."

      Multiple Zones International, Inc. is a leading international direct
      marketer of brand name microprocessor-based hardware, software,
      peripherals and accessories for users of PC/Wintel and Apple
      Macintosh-compatible computers through two flagship catalogs, The PC
      Zone(R) and The Mac Zone(R). A dedicated telemarketing sales force serves
      the needs of the business, education and government markets. Products are
      also available through the Multiple Zones Internet SuperStore.

      The Company was founded in 1988, serves 24 countries worldwide and is
      headquartered in Renton, Washington. Orders can be placed or a catalog can
      be received simply by calling 1-800-258-2088 or through accessing our
      World Wide Web location www.zones.com.

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