BeachMint and Lucky merge, form new e-commerce company

BeachMint rebrands as The Lucky Group, a new fashion e-commerce company

(Updated with comment from Josh Berman)

I'll be totally honest here: I have never read Lucky magazine before. It is dedicated to shopping and style, and those just aren't topics that I am, personally, very interested in. But I'm aware that there are many who do want to find out more about those things, and I have good news for all of you out there who do: Lucky magazine, which has reportedly been struggling, and in trouble, for a while now, has just been saved.

Lucky's publisher, Conde Nast, has reached an agreement to keep the magazine going through a joint venture with e-commerce platform Beachmint, it was announced on Monday. The combined companies will be known as The Lucky Group.

It will be run by BeachMint’s  technology, customer service and commerce operations, while featuring Lucky's "distinctive voice and aesthetic."

As per the deal, BeachMint’s CEO Josh Berman will become CEO of the Lucky Group, while Lucky’s executive in chief Eva Chen will become chief creative officer and Gillian Gorman Round, General Manager and Senior Vice President for Lucky, will be its new president. The company’s Board of Directors will be comprised of BeachMint’s existing shareholders along with Condé Nast representatives. 

Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s artistic director, will serve as an advisor on the deal. Once it closes, it is expected that all of Lucky’s editorial and business teams are will be joining the new company, which is planned for a debut in early 2015.

"BeachMint hasn’t formally had previous ties to Condé Nast, however myself and a few of the Condé Nast executives have known each other for some time, and started to talk about ways we could work together about a year ago," Berman told me. "Everyone’s excited to embark on this new venture. We can’t imagine a better partner to team up with."

While this is no doubt a step forward for Lucky on the digital side, the press release refers to "Lucky’s print, digital and mobile content," which makes it sound like, even though the magazine will be have an inccreased presence online, it will still put a print edition as well.

“This move reflects our belief in the strength of the Lucky brand, voice and vision under Eva and Gillian’s leadership,” Robert A. Sauerberg, Condé Nast president, said in a statement. “By adding an e-commerce component to Lucky, we’re fulfilling the brand promise—to create the ultimate shopping resource and provide advertisers with the ability to truly integrate at every point within the customer journey.”

Obviously this is all good news for Lucky and its readers, as they will continue to get access to the content they love. And for BeachMint

"It's always been BeachMint's mission to innovate within ecommerce. Creating The Lucky Group will bring content and commerce together and provide a new way to innovate," Berman said.

Going forward, BeachMint will now be operating under the new name.

It is not a big surprise that BeachMint is rebranding and refocusing, seeing as how  the company has been struggling in recent years, with reports coming out that the company could be folding, as well reports that founders Berman and Diego Berdakin were in danger of losing their jobs.

Founded in 2010, Beachment is a social commerce company which features six celebrity-curated, subcription-based sites from actress Kate Bosworth, Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, Jessica Simpson, Rachel Bilson and Justin Timberlake.

The company has raised a total of $73.5 million from investors that included  Scale Venture Partners, Lightbank, New Enterprise Associates, Trinity Ventures and Anthen Ventures.

VatorNews has reached out to Beachmint to find out more  about the deal, and the company's future. We will update if we learn more.

(Image source: tahoeunveiled.com)