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Bookit.Com Corporate Office

Bookit.Com was founded in 2000 by Arthur Finlaw. The company name originally was Reservationsystem.Com and the company was run from the family garage in Panama City Beach, Florida. With help from his wife and son, the company grew quickly.

Today, Bookit.Com has become the largest privately held travel booking systems online. The company was the first to provide bookings and reservations for hotels and airlines internationally. It currently has more than 100 destinations and has offices in the US, Mexico,and the Caribbean.

Bookit.Com began using the FROM technology in 2008, making it easier for customers to find their destination quickly. The company states that in 2010 they had more than 5 million visitors to their webpage. Jamin Finlaw began operating as CEO in 2010, although Arthur “Bud” Finlaw still works at the company daily.

Bookit.Com

History

Rue La La Corporate Office

Rue La La was founded in 2007 by current CEO Mark McWeeny in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is an invitation-only website that offers private sales of discounted merchandise. Each sale has a limited time window in which merchandise can be purchased.

The company offers a wide variety of items including travel discounts, designer clothing, footwear, wine, handbags, jewelry, gourmet food, and local services, such as massages and manicures. As of 2011, Rue La La operates as a subsidiary of Kynetic L.L.C.

Sometimes referred to as a “flash” site, due to the short duration in which clients can purchase items, the company recently announced plans in May of 2016 to spend as much as $3 million expanding the company, as well as hiring approximately 150 new full-time employees.

In June 2018, the company acquired Gilt for an undisclosed amount.

Rue La La maintains a corporate office in Boston, Massachusetts.

Rue La La

History

In June 2018, the company acquired Gilt for an undisclosed amount.

Rue La La maintains a corporate office in Boston, Massachusetts.

Shop.Com Corporate Office

Shop.Com was founded in 1992 as Market America, by current CEO JR Ridinger and his wife Loren Ridinger. The company has headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and employs more than 650 full time individuals.

Originally founded as a marketing site, the company offers discount merchandise from vendors on their website. The company has expanded shipping and operations to 5 other countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, and Mexico. Market America has changed their domain name to Shop.Com in 2010, as a means of expanding Market America’s cash back program that was started in 2008.

Shop.Com has been criticized for being the ultimate multi-level marketing scheme, however, with nearly half a billion dollars in sales, it seems customers are inclined to disagree.

The company offers health, nutrition, anti-aging, cosmetics, personal care, clothing, weight management, shoes, home and garden, and pet care products, as well as auto care, travel and financial services.

Shop.Com

Shop.Com has been criticized for being the ultimate multi-level marketing scheme, however, with nearly half a billion dollars in sales, it seems customers are inclined to disagree.

History

Trivago Corporate Office

Trivago is an online discount hotel reservation service. Founded in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2004 by Peter Vinnemeier, Malte Siewert, and Rolf Schrömgen. This trio still owns 40% of the company, and Expedia purchased 61% of the company in 2012.

Trivago has grown tremendously over the past decade. It now operates in 55 countries around the world. The company has more than 1,000 employees and had $4 billion in revenue in 2015. The company claims to be the largest hotel search engine in the world, with more than 250 booking sites.

The company also offers a free app for both Android and iOS devices. Each hotel listed must receive at least 20 ratings before Trivago assigns the hotel a rating. Ratings are from 0 to 100 and are based entirely on results from “mystery shoppers”.

In July 2018, Trivago lost more than 30% of its stock price as the company struggled to compete with businesses such as Booking.com. The company then began laying off employees to counter the loss of profits.

Trivago is listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol: TRVG

Company headquarters for North America are located in New York, New York.

Trivago

History

Trivago is listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol: TRVG

Company headquarters for North America are located in New York, New York.

Hotwire.Com Corporate Office

Hotwire.Com is an online travel site that offers discount airline tickets and hotel reservations, usually from unsold travel inventory from other sites. The company was founded in 2000 by six airlines and Karl Peterson, Eric Grosse, Gregg Brockway, and Spencer Rascoff. Hotwire.Com is based out of Seattle, Washington.

Hotwire.Com functions as an operating system of Expedia. When Expedia and other sites have hotel accommodations and airline seats that are unsold, they often are turned over to Hotwire. The company does not use an auction format, but shows their pricing upfront. The company removed all airline booking fees in 2007, something few other companies have done.

Hotwire.Com uses an “opaque” sales model. While the time and price are shown, the exact name of the hotel or airline is not revealed until after the client has purchased their ticket. This is to avoid direct competition with other travel partners.