NEW YORK –– Delivery.com announced today that it has acquired Eats Media, LLC, a leading restaurant information portal and social networking site for food and dining enthusiasts. The combination of the two companies further solidifies Delivery.com’s positioning as a premier online destination serving both individual consumers and companies with fast, local, same-day delivery of great food from a wide variety of quality restaurants and other essential products from leading merchants.
“The acquisition of Eats’ properties and the addition of a strong new team further strengthens Delivery.com’s business both strategically and operationally, said Howard Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, the leading financial services firm that owns Delivery.com. “Our breadth of service offerings, from a quick lunch to a complete dinner, to gifts and household items, plus the convenience of ordering for same-day local delivery, makes Delivery.com an incredibly compelling service. The Eats acquisition positions us for accelerated growth into local markets nationwide,” Mr. Lutnick said.
Mr. Lutnick added, “Delivery.com has a unique partnership model that pays customers substantial referral commissions for bringing new merchants and users on board. The addition of Eats brings even more compelling content that our partners can leverage when promoting our properties.”
Joe Ariel, CEO and co-founder of Eats who will be Chief Executive Officer of post-acquisition Delivery.com said, “The time is ripe for online local ordering to be a part of mainstream culture. The combined entity brings us even closer to our vision of the ultimate local network. Overnight, we are able to improve the user experience by incorporating greater content and functionality. On the merchant side, we’ve become a one-stop shop for local marketing solutions,” he concluded.
Under Mr. Ariel’s leadership, Eats achieved double digit growth for five consecutive years. He led the successful launch of Eats Magazine in New York, Miami and DC, and created officially licensed College Eats guides at 10 colleges including Yale, Columbia, George Washington University and the University of Miami. Mr. Ariel’s career has included successful roles in marketing, brand management and advisory services with the New York Knicks and CIBC World Markets. Mr. Ariel holds an economics degree from Vanderbilt University.
Eats has grown rapidly since its creation in 2002, emerging as a leading web and print media company. Starting in New York and subsequently expanding to several other U.S. markets, Eats has validated the strength of local and niche marketing and advertising by securing local, regional and significant national advertisers as loyal clients.
“Historically, the strength of the Eats business model has stemmed from successfully penetrating local markets, and monetizing local advertising from restaurants across the country,” said Jon Gershman, Vice President of Sales for the post-acquisition entity. “By joining Eats.com and Delivery.com, we now can offer online ordering to our existing product suite of print and online advertising/marketing. The transactional revenue model is very powerful, and we are excited to be able to offer this new product to our valued clients,” he said.
Joining Mr. Ariel and Gershman from Eats will be Jonathan Mark, Vice President of Marketing and Colin Sims, Vice President of Operations. Eats has been featured on Fox News, CBS TV, Fast Company and The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, which called Eats.com “The Facebook for Foodies.” Delivery.com has been featured most recently in local and national print, such as The New York Post, as well as industry trade media such as FoodService Solutions.
About Eats
Eats is a leading restaurant information portal and social networking site for dining enthusiasts. Eats’ products include Eats.com, Eats Magazine and College Eats. Eats.com is a website that features restaurant listings, reviews, videos and profiles in 50 cities and 75 colleges throughout the country. Eats Magazine is a local neighborhood restaurant guide published in New York City, Miami, and Washington DC, and College Eats is an officially licensed college restaurant guide published for 10 schools nationally.
For more information, please visit www.eats.com.
About Delivery.com
Delivery.com is a premier online destination for fast, reliable and easy ordering of food and other items for local, same-day delivery. Serving customers and merchants in over 1000 markets across the country, Delivery.com provides individuals and companies with the convenience of a single destination for a wide array of delivery needs. In addition to the many advantages to consumers, Delivery.com adds value for participating merchants by enabling them to offer more convenient service to their existing patrons and reach new customers. Delivery.com’s unique, entrepreneurial partnerships feature fosters participation by loyal customers in the continuing growth of the Delivery.com network.
