Follow-up: Zulily lays off more employees as website and app remain offline
Zulily’s website was “down for maintenance” Monday in the latest sign of the retailer’s collapse.
Zulily.com redirects to Zuliy.com/password and features a bare webpage with just “Zulily” and the phrase “We are down for maintenance.”
It’s unclear if the website is temporarily down or if it’s down for good.
The online retailer earlier this month planned to shut down three offices, including its Seattle headquarters, and lay off more than 800 people in total. The company later announced a “going-out-of-business” sale.
Last week the Seattle-based online retailer surprised some employees, notifying them via email that they were getting laid off effective immediately. Filings with state employment offices previously indicated that the layoffs would begin Feb. 7 of next year.
Also last week, the Zulily credit card was no longer being accepted for purchases as Zulily’s online store, according to Synchrony Bank.
Zulily, a one-time pillar of Seattle’s tech scene that was valued at more than $7 billion in 2014, is in the midst of a stunning downfall following Regent’s acquisition of the company from QVC parent Qurate in May.
The company went through at least two rounds of layoffs since then and moved into a smaller headquarters building in Seattle. Vendors who sell to Zulily started reporting unpaid invoices after the acquisition.
GeekWire reported on two lawsuits filed against Zulily by a logistics company and a software development consultancy in recent months, both alleging unpaid invoices.
Zulily last week filed suit against Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant’s tactics made it impossible to compete on price without jeopardizing its relationships with key suppliers. Regent is not mentioned in the lawsuit.
We’ve contacted Regent for comment on the latest notices. The firm has not responded to multiple emails from GeekWire about developments at Zulily over the past several months.
Regent has acquired more than 30 businesses since 2015, including consumer retail and apparel brands.
