OpenTable.com and Tribune Interactive Team Up to Bring Online Restaurant Reservations To Chicago
May 3, 2000
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 3, 2000) - OpenTable.com (www.opentable.com), the online restaurant reservation network, and Tribune Interactive are teaming up to allow consumers to book local restaurant reservations in Chicago through metromix.com (www.metromix.com), Chicago's No. 1 local entertainment resource on the Web.
Metromix.com has the largest searchable database of entertainment services in the Chicago area with more than 9,000 restaurant listings. Users can find restaurant and bar descriptions as well as reviews from consumers and Chicago Tribune restaurant critic, Phil Vettel. The site enables consumers to search for a Chicago-area restaurant by cuisine type, neighborhood or price range.
"Beyond the valuable restaurant information available on metromix.com, consumers will now have the ability to use the information they gather to make free OpenTable.com dining reservations without picking up a phone," said Chuck Templeton, OpenTable.com president and CEO. "Metromix.com and OpenTable.com will create an exceptional tool to help Chicago's residents and tourists make the most of their time online."
The co-branded feature, scheduled to launch in the next few weeks, will allow consumers to instantly obtain an online confirmation of their restaurant reservation.
"By combining OpenTable.com's capabilities with the deep, rich, local information that we provide on metromix.com, we make it easy for consumers to save time and get more of what they want from their city," said David Hiller, president of Tribune Interactive. "Providing consumers with these types of services enables them to use the Internet to get things done -- making their lives much simpler."
Tribune (NYSE: TRB) is a leading media company with operations in television and radio broadcasting, publishing, education and interactive ventures. It is an industry leader in venture partnerships with new-media companies. In 2000, for the third straight year, Tribune ranked No. 1 among its industry peers in Fortune magazine's list of most-admired companies in America. In March 2000, Tribune Company and The Times Mirror Company announced a merger agreement that will create the nation's premier local-market multimedia company, combining national reach and a major presence in 18 of the nation's top 30 markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Tribune Interactive, based in Chicago, manages the Internet activities of Tribune Company's newspapers and television stations, as well as national online products and services. The company was formed in May 1999 to accelerate Tribune's growth online and to develop profitable businesses in the new medium. When the Tribune and Times Mirror merger is completed later in 2000, Tribune Interactive will manage Times Mirror's leading newspaper Web sites and other Internet activities in addition to its current portfolio of sites. In addition, Tribune will have operations in 18 of the top 30 U.S. markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Orlando, Boston and Dallas.
OpenTable.com, the online restaurant reservation network, is based in San Francisco, California, and has offices in fifteen cities including New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington DC. OpenTable.com is an Internet company dedicated to harnessing the power of the Internet for restaurants and providing dining consumers with the best possible reservation experience. The company's proprietary electronic reservation book (ERB) introduces revolutionary customer database-building, marketing, and yield management tools, as well as real-time online reservations, to the restaurant industry. OpenTable.com has strategically partnered with leading Internet and media companies including America Online (AOL) Digital City, OracleMobile.com, and The New York Times' NYToday.com and The Boston Globe's Boston.com. OpenTable.com's customers include more than 500 of the nation's top restaurants. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms Impact Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital, as well as American Express. For more information about OpenTable.com or its online restaurant reservation network visit www.opentable.com or call 1.800.OPENTABLE.
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