Zulily, a company that’s been around for 13 years, is closing its Pioneer Square headquarters and other facilities across the US, as reported by GeekWire. The company is letting go of 292 employees in Seattle and other parts of Washington, with the layoffs taking effect on 7 February 2024, according to information from the state employment security department, as mentioned by the Seattle Times.
The closure of warehouses in Nevada and Ohio is leading to an additional 547 job cuts, as indicated by notifications from both states. These layoffs come after several previous rounds of job reductions in the company and the departure of Terry Boyle, CEO, in October 2023.
The company, founded in 2010 by Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens, former executives from online jewellery retailer Blue Nile, experienced significant growth initially. In 2013, the company had 12.6 million active customers and generated $331 million in revenue, marking a nearly 700 per cent increase from 2010.
The company went public in 2013 with an initial public offering (IPO) valued at $2.6 billion. However, by the end of the first day, this valuation had nearly doubled. In 2014, Zulily achieved a market value of $7 billion, with annual sales totaling $1 billion.
Only major companies such as Amazon and Old Navy made a billion dollars in revenue as quickly as Zulily did. In 2015, Zulily was purchased by Liberty Interactive-QVC, now called Qurate, for about $2.4 billion.
