Cooking.com Appoints Three New Vice Presidents --Former Disneyland and Toys 'R' Us Execs Join...

Business Editors

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2000

Cooking.com (www.cooking.com), the premier destination for people who cook and enjoy gourmet food, today announced the appointments of Mike Wilson to vice president, guest assistance and Bryan Handlen to vice

"Guest assistance, logistics and merchandise planning represent critical functions that support our commitment to deliver the highest quality service and online experience to guests visiting Cooking.com," said David Hodess, president and chief executive officer. "Mike, Bryan and Dawn all bring in-depth knowledge and skills that complement our strong management team and will be instrumental in the continued growth of Cooking.com."

As vice president, guest assistance, Wilson will be responsible for overseeing the company's customer service operations. Wilson, previously served as operations manager, health & safety for the Disneyland Resort, overseeing a team of more than 100 doctors, nurses and safety professionals. Prior to Disneyland, he was manager, retail operations for the Disney Stores and the ESPN Stores, where he was responsible for new store concepts.

Handlen, in the newly created position of vice president, logistics, will oversee the company's distribution function, reporting directly to Tracy Randall, senior vice president of commerce. Prior to joining Cooking.com, he was vice president, logistics at Toytime.com, an Internet toy retailer, where he led the company's distribution function. Earlier, Handlen managed various distribution facilities and in-bound and out-bound traffic departments for Toys "R" Us.

The company also announced that Dawn Allen was promoted to vice president, merchandise planning and will oversee merchandise coordination, inventory and merchandise sales planning. Prior to joining Cooking.com, Allen was the business manager for the Disneyland Resort's retail stores, where she was responsible for finance, inventory control and merchandise liquidation. Previously, Allen served as controller for the Disney Store Worldwide and was an internal operations/financial auditor for Beckman Instruments. About Cooking.com

Founded in March 1998, Cooking.com is a leading online retailer of best-of-brand cooking-related products and specialty foods. The site offers around-the-clock accessibility to more than 6,200 product offerings from top brands such as All-Clad, Calphalon, Cuisinart, KitchenAid, Krups, Henckels and Wusthof - one of the broadest product selections of cooking-related items on the Web. In addition, Cooking.com provides thousands of recipes, cooks' tips, feature articles and menu planners from renowned chefs, cookbook authors and restaurateurs, creating a unique destination for people who love to cook and enjoy gourmet food. Cooking.com has developed numerous partnerships with established market leaders such as America Online, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., and Starbucks Coffee Company. Cooking.com also maintains an exclusive relationship with Burt Wolf, one of the nation's best-known experts on food and cooking equipment, who contributes his unique views on new products and recipes from his worldwide travels. Cooking.com's firm commitment to customer service ensures a hassle-free shopping experience for every guest; the site was recently ranked third by Fortune magazine in an independent study rating the performance of Internet retailers in all product categories during the 1999 holiday season.