It's pretty tough to be a flash-sales company these days. E-commerce company Fab has shed hundreds of jobs over the past couple of years, as it pivoted away from the flash-sales model, and now one of its biggest competitors is all set to lay off a big chunk of its workforce as well.
One Kings Lane, the flash-sales site focused on home goods, is reportedly about shed itself of between 75 and 100 workers, according to a report from ReCode on Tuesday. If true, those job cuts would translate to 15% to 20% of the company's staff being out of work.
The company has an up and down year so far, first raising a big new funding round of $112 million in January, which valued the company at $900 million. That gave the company over $220 million in total funding.
But in April long-time CEO, Doug Mack, announced he was leaving the company in order to run sports e-commerce company Fanatics instead. He was eventually replaced by One Kings Lane CFO and COO Dinesh Lathi.
The ReCode report does not indicate why One Kings Lane is looking to shed jobs, but there would seem to be two reasons: either the company is losing money, or it is looking to streamline. Given the recent cash infusion, the second of those options seems more likely.
Whatever the reason, all One Kings Lane employees have to be hoping that this does not turn into another Fab situation.
Last year more than a third of Fab's entire workforce was laid off, and it has seen fours round of layoffs in the past year.
It started with 100 employees at Fab’sBerlin office, in order to consolidate operations in New York. That was followed by another round oflayoffs, with 101 people, including 84 members of its New York team. Another 50 were then axed in November. Most recently it laid off another 80 to 90 workers in May.
Fab’s workforce has now been whittled down to around 200 people from a peak of 700, as the company pivots from a its previous incarnation, as a flash-sales company, to a more conventional e-commerce model with new verticals, most notably furniture. The company started a line of designer sofas, which launched last month.
So far there is definitely no indication that One Kings Lane is giving up on the flash-sales model, or that it will be reducing its staff any further.
VatorNews has reached out to One King's Lane to confirm the report, but the company was not available for comment. We will update if we learn more.
(Image source: onekingslane.com)
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One Kings Lane is the only private online sales site solely dedicated to designer home décor. Each day (Monday – Friday) there are 3-5 sales that are brand specific and last 72 hours. Events begin at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST. For the first time ever, consumers have access to the personal inventory of high profile interior designers thanks to the Tastemaker Tag Sales. The sales will include an exciting, eclectic mix of vintage finds, one-off samples, décor and furniture from a designer’s branded line. The first TTS will launch on April 10th. Every Saturday, for three days, an interior designer will offer a signature assortment of hand-picked selections, which will be offered to One Kings Lane members at 50 percent or more below retail value. One Kings Lane was founded by Susan Feldman, a former fashion executive who has worked with such companies as Warnaco/Ralph Lauren Swimwear, Polo Jeans, and C&C California, and Alison Pincus, a digital media expert who spent time at ELLE Décor, Home, and Metropolitan Home. When Susan moved back to Los Angeles from New York a few years ago, and into her first house as an adult, she was house proud, but noted the frugal climate. She saw an opportunity to create a new way to make beautiful home furnishings available affordably, a sort of online sample sale. She and Ali were introduced and Susan’s background in retail, combined with Ali’s background in digital media created the perfect combination to create One Kings Lane.
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Fab is on a mission to help people better their lives with design.
Fab was founded by serial entrepreneur Jason Goldberg in February 2011 and launched on June 9, 2011. Fab’s founders are Bradford Shellhammer, Nishith Shah and Deepa Shah. Fab’s headquarters are in New York. The company also has offices in Berlin, London and Pune.
Over 6 million people around the world use Fab todiscover everyday design products at great prices, to connect with the world’s most exciting designers, and toshare their favorite design inspirations.