Wherehouse, CheckOut in Web Deal

Keeping pace with the trend of retailers and Internet firms joining forces to cash in on each other’s customer base, Wherehouse Music and entertainment Web site CheckOut.com announced a $40-million partnership. Wherehouse will invest $20 million in Beverly Hills-based CheckOut.com, and Yucaipa Cos. and Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz will plow the other $20 million into the Web firm. CheckOut.com sells movies, music and games and offers a range of information on entertainment figures. CheckOut.com was founded by billionaire grocery magnate Ronald W. Burkle’s Yucaipa investment firm, along with Ovitz and former Disney Online President Richard Wolpert. Burkle hired Wolpert in January to run Yucaipa’s fast-growing Internet ventures.

Wherehouse, based in Torrance, operates 600 stores nationwide and said the deal would help it beef up its online presence. Wherehouse’s 5-month-old Web site, Wherehouse.com, will cease to exist, and its content will be transferred to CheckOut.com. CheckOut.com will have kiosks in Wherehouse stores. Wherehouse will include CheckOut.com in its marketing efforts.