Zulily has put its corporate headquarters on the rental market as the Seattle-based online retailer sheds employees and moves its business model away from consumable goods.
All six floors of the company’s Elliott Avenue office have been listed as available for lease starting next year, indicating the e-commerce platform plans to exit its longtime base in Belltown. It is unclear whether the company plans to reduce its offices or relocate entirely.
Zulily did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Nor did Regent, the Los Angeles-based private equity firm that bought the platform in May.
The rental listing was posted that same month, according to a report from the Daily Journal of Commerce.
Shorenstein Properties, the property owner, acquired the century-old waterfront complex two years ago for nearly $185 million, according to the Daily Journal.
Over the 2022 fiscal year, revenue for Zulily fell 38%, according to earnings data from Qurate Retail, which owned the e-commerce platform at the time. Qurate, whose other assets include the Home Shopping Network, said the shortfall was “largely driven by reduced traffic to the site.”
Revenue fell a further 17% in the first quarter of 2023, earnings data shows.
Qurate flipped the site to Regent in May, paying off $80 million of Zulily’s debt. Regent pledged to help the site “return to its entrepreneurial roots as an independent business,” according to comments made by Michael Reinstein, the investment firm’s chairman.
In June, Zulily entered a new round of layoffs, according to a GeekWire report — the third round of job cuts in the span of two years. The company did not disclose the number of cuts.
The online retailer employs about 600 people in the Seattle area, according to LinkedIn. In May, GeekWire reported that number to be around 750.
In an effort to streamline its retail services, Zulily made the decision to quit offering consumable goods on its platform July 3, according to a Wednesday report by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
A corporate spokesperson told the Business Journal that “the decision to exit the consumables business” came after Zulily was acquired by Regent, as part of an analysis of the company’s different business lines.
“It was the most recent business added to the Zulily portfolio and turned out to have significantly different economics and customer interest than our core business,” the spokesperson said.
Several consumable products, including groceries and cosmetics, are still available on Zulily. It is unclear what products will be removed from the platform, and when.
