Luggage

Hayneedle Corporate Office

Hayneedle began in 2002 with the online store Hammocks.com. Over the following few years the company opened dozens of online stores; each one was focused on a specific type of product as part of the umbrella of home and patio furnishings.

In 2005 the company unified under the name NetShops. In 2006 the company was acquired by Thralow, Inc.

By 2007 NetShops had launched and operated hundreds of online specialty shops.

In 2009 the company rebranded as Hayneedle. The company’s flagship website, Hayneedle.com, sells a wide variety of home and garden items.

Hayneedle currently has 220 e-commerce sites, including AdirondackChairs.com, Barstools.com, Hammocks.com, and PatioFurnitureUSA.com. The company is currently owned by Sequoia Capital and Insight Venture Partners.

Hayneedle has 500 employees and had $200 billion revenue in 2012.

Hayneedle

In 2005 the company unified under the name NetShops. In 2006 the company was acquired by Thralow, Inc.

By 2007 NetShops had launched and operated hundreds of online specialty shops.

History

In 2009 the company rebranded as Hayneedle. The company’s flagship website, Hayneedle.com, sells a wide variety of home and garden items.

Hayneedle has 500 employees and had $200 billion revenue in 2012.

eBags Corporate Office

A group of five people founded eBags in 1998: John Nordmark, Peter Cobb, Frank Steed, Andy Youngs, and Eliot Cobb.

They launched an e-commerce site, www.ebags.com, in 1999 with seven brands, including Samsonite, JanSport, and Skyway luggage.

eBags drop-shipped most products directly from manufacturers to customers, meaning eBags did not keep any stock but rather transferred the merchandise directly from manufacturer or wholesaler to the customer.

The company grew, experiencing some downturn which caused it to diversify into handbags and purses.

eBags expanded unsuccessfully to Europe in 2004, and ended up shutting that operation down in 2008.

Today eBags is an online retailer of handbags, luggage, backpacks, laptop bags, and accessories from more than 500 brands. It has its own brand, The eBags Brand, and also operates handbags.com.

eBags, Inc.

A group of five people founded eBags in 1998: John Nordmark, Peter Cobb, Frank Steed, Andy Youngs, and Eliot Cobb.

They launched an e-commerce site, www.ebags.com, in 1999 with seven brands, including Samsonite, JanSport, and Skyway luggage.

History

The company grew, experiencing some downturn which caused it to diversify into handbags and purses.

eBags expanded unsuccessfully to Europe in 2004, and ended up shutting that operation down in 2008.

Today eBags is an online retailer of handbags, luggage, backpacks, laptop bags, and accessories from more than 500 brands. It has its own brand, The eBags Brand, and also operates handbags.com.

Wayfair Corporate Office

Entrepreneurs Niraj Shah and Steve Conine founded Wayfair in 2002 in Boston, Massachusetts as CSN Stores. Wayfair was their third company.

CSN Stores was launched as a single website, www.racksandstands.com, which sold media stands and storage furniture.

Over the following two years, the company expanded its product line to include home goods, office, institutional, kitchen, dining, bed and bath, home improvement, luggage, and lighting.

In 2006 CSN reached $100 million in sales.

In 2008 the company expanded to Canada and the U.K., and in 2009 to Australia and Germany.

By 2011 CSN Stores owned over 200 online stores. The same year, founders Shah and Conine decided to rebrand the site in an effort to unify the brand and redirect web traffic to one site, changing the name of the company to Wayfair.

The company went public in late 2014 on the NASDAQ and can be found under the ticker symbol: W:US. The company was valued at that time at $2 billion.

Despite spending more than $500 million on advertising and increased sales of more than 50%, the company posted a second-quarter loss of $100 million.

In mid-2018, the company announced that it planned to open its first retail location in Cincinnati, Ohio, in late 2018. An exact date has yet to be announced.

Wayfair employees threatened to walk off the job after discovering that the company has sold furniture to contractors who are operating the detention centers that house migrant children who are separated from family members per the Trump administration. The company responded by saying it was a company practice to fulfill orders to clients. The walkout is scheduled for June 26, 2019.

Today Wayfair is the 33rd largest online retailer for home goods and furniture in the U.S. with $4.72 billion in revenue in 2017.

Wayfair

Entrepreneurs Niraj Shah and Steve Conine founded Wayfair in 2002 in Boston, Massachusetts as CSN Stores. Wayfair was their third company.

CSN Stores was launched as a single website, www.racksandstands.com, which sold media stands and storage furniture.

History

Over the following two years, the company expanded its product line to include home goods, office, institutional, kitchen, dining, bed and bath, home improvement, luggage, and lighting.

In 2006 CSN reached $100 million in sales.

In 2008 the company expanded to Canada and the U.K., and in 2009 to Australia and Germany.

The company went public in late 2014 on the NASDAQ and can be found under the ticker symbol: W:US. The company was valued at that time at $2 billion.

Despite spending more than $500 million on advertising and increased sales of more than 50%, the company posted a second-quarter loss of $100 million.

In mid-2018, the company announced that it planned to open its first retail location in Cincinnati, Ohio, in late 2018. An exact date has yet to be announced.

Today Wayfair is the 33rd largest online retailer for home goods and furniture in the U.S. with $4.72 billion in revenue in 2017.

Rakuten.com Shopping Corporate Office

Scott Blum founded Buy.com in 1997. The company sold electronics at below cost and made up the difference with advertising and ancillary services like warranties and equipment leases.

Buy.com had the record for first year sales of any company with $111 million in 1998, its first full year of business.

Scott Blum sold his stake in the company to SoftBank in 1999 for $195 million, right before the company filed an IPO. Stock values plummeted the following year and he bought his stake back for $23.6 million in 2001.

In 2002 Buy.com expanded beyond electronics and began adding soft goods to their catalog.

Buy.com has an extensive eBay store and has over 1 million positive reviews.

In 2010 Buy.com was acquired by Rakuten, Inc., Japan’s biggest e-commerce company. The acquisition had an approximate value of $250 million.

In 2013 Rakuten, Inc. announced the official rebranding of Buy.com to “Rakuten.com Shopping.”

Rakuten.com Shopping offers more than 17 million products and is ranked in the top three e-commerce companies in the world.

Rakuten.com Shopping

Scott Blum founded Buy.com in 1997. The company sold electronics at below cost and made up the difference with advertising and ancillary services like warranties and equipment leases.

Buy.com had the record for first year sales of any company with $111 million in 1998, its first full year of business.

History

In 2002 Buy.com expanded beyond electronics and began adding soft goods to their catalog.

Buy.com has an extensive eBay store and has over 1 million positive reviews.

In 2010 Buy.com was acquired by Rakuten, Inc., Japan’s biggest e-commerce company. The acquisition had an approximate value of $250 million.

In 2013 Rakuten, Inc. announced the official rebranding of Buy.com to “Rakuten.com Shopping.”

Rakuten.com Shopping offers more than 17 million products and is ranked in the top three e-commerce companies in the world.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Corporate Office

BJ’s Wholesale Club was started in 1984 by the retail chain Zayre in Massachusetts. The letters in the name are the initials of the wife, Barbara Jane, and daughter, Beverly Jean, of the first president, Mervyn Weich.

In 1988 Zayre Corporation sold the Zayre nameplate to rival chain Ames, and TJX Companies was formed. In 1989 TJX spun off their warehouse division, including BJ’s, to form Waban, Inc.

In August 1997 Waban, Inc. spun off BJ’s to form an independent company. The new company was named BJ’s Wholesale Club and was headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts and Waban renamed itself HomeBase, Inc.

In 2011 two private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners, acquired BJ’s.

In June 2018, the company went public on the NYSE under the ticker symbol :BJ.

Today BJ’s has 219 stores in 15 states with 25,000 employees. BJ’s had $15.4 billion in revenue in 2020.

BJ's Wholesale Club

History

In 1988 Zayre Corporation sold the Zayre nameplate to rival chain Ames, and TJX Companies was formed. In 1989 TJX spun off their warehouse division, including BJ’s, to form Waban, Inc.

In 2011 two private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners, acquired BJ’s.

In June 2018, the company went public on the NYSE under the ticker symbol :BJ.

Today BJ’s has 219 stores in 15 states with 25,000 employees. BJ’s had $15.4 billion in revenue in 2020.