By Press Release

August 15, 2000

Fernando and Santiago Aguerre, founders and owners of the San Diego based footwear company Reef, announced that Bob Rief has joined the company as CEO starting August 14, 2000.

Bob Rief, The New CEO At Reef. Confusing, huh?

"We are pleased that Bob has joined our company. We have been on a very fast growth curve and are happy to have someone with Bob's experience on board," said Fernando Aguerre, Reef's Chairman and CEO. Aguerre continued, "Bob's career encompasses stints as general manager at Merrell Footwear and Nike Golf. He is very familiar with the footwear industry and the challenges we face in the global marketplace. This is another step in our preparation for a bigger future. Both Santiago and I will remain involved in the management at Reef. Bob is our choice to manage Reef on the day-to-day level."

The hiring of the new CEO, comes a few weeks after the hiring of Dave Mellon as director of product, design and merchandising. Mellon held the same position at The North Face. Fernando Aguerre will continue to serve as Chairman of Reef. Both Fernando and Santiago will continue to concentrate on global growth of the popular Reef brand.

Reef Footwear was founded in 1985 by Fernando and Santiago Aguerre, and today is the largest surf and beach footwear brand in the world. Reef specializes in all types of beach, sport, technical, and casual sandals and is an emerging leader in active, casual footwear. It is distributed in over 100 countries on five continents. The company is located at 9660 Chesapeake Dr., San Diego, CA 92123. For more information contact Heather Bensen at 800-423-6855 or [email protected].