Target to Buy Recipe, Cookware Companies

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire Chefs Catalog and assets of Cooking.com, two online companies offering kitchen tools and recipes.

Terms of the acquisitions, which are expected to close within 30 days, were not disclosed. Following the closings, Target said the two businesses will be combined to create a new subsidiary, but both brands will continue to operate under their current names.

“We are excited to bring Chefs and Cooking.com into the Target family,” said Casey Carl, president of multichannel and senior vice president, enterprise strategy, Target. “We know consumers are increasingly looking online for cooking solutions to make their lives easier — from utensils and cookware, to recipes. These strategic transactions provide us a great way to address this growing opportunity and will offer expanded online options for our guests.”

Tim Littleton, president and chief executive officer of Chefs, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be president of the new, wholly owned subsidiary, and will report to Carl. Tracy Randall, chief executive and co-founder of Cooking.com, will become a consultant to Target.

“Chefs has grown and thrived online by offering a well-edited selection of leading kitchen tools, gadgets and accessories,” Littleton said. “Combined with Cooking.com and their strong ‘Powered By’ partnerships, their vast array of recipes and user-driven product ratings and reviews, we believe we’re well-positioned to provide an even richer online experience for our collective customers.”

Cooking.com, based in Marina Del Rey, Calif., operates branded online stores, including the Food Network Store, Calphalon Store, and Rachael Ray Store, offering products for the kitchen as well as recipes, cookbooks and member-submitted cooking content.

The acquisition comes as Target has significantly ramped up its in-store grocery offering with a full supermarket layout in most of its new and remodeled locations.

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