| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | eCommerce |
| Founded | 2002 as Quadrant lI |
| Founder(s) | Doug Nielsen, Julie Mahloch, Mark Hasebroock |
| Headquarters |
Omaha, Nebraska, United States 12720 I St, Ste 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68137 |
| Key people | Doug Nielsen (President & CEO) |
Hayneedle is an online retail company based in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. The company owns and operates over 220 online niche stores featuring a wide variety of products. Hayneedle currently employs over 300 people in the Omaha Metro area. In 2009 Hayneedle, formerly known as NetShops, unveiled its new name.[1]
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Hayneedle began in 2002 with a single store, Hammocks.com. Within a few years, about a dozen more stores were added to round out the company's initial yard and patio furnishings platform. Today Hayneedle's proprietary ecommerce platform enables the continual development and launching of online stores specializing in a variety of product categories that the company recognizes as underserved in competing retail stores.
Hayneedle acquired Duluth, Minnesota based Thralow, Inc. stores in 2006, consisting of the ecommerce properties Binoculars.com and Telescopes.com, among others. In February 2006, Hayneedle, then known as NetShops, laid off approximately 50 employees from Omaha and all Thralow employees as part of a major internal restructuring. In February 2007, Hayneedle, then known as NetShops again laid off approximately 50 employees as part of another major internal restructuring. In September 2007, Hayneedle acquired GiftBaskets.com to help round out the gift categories represented by their niche stores. In February 2007, Hayneedle, then known as NetShops, laid off approximately 50 employees as part of a major internal restructuring, but has subsequently grown to over 300 full-time employees in addition to part-time and temporary workers.
The chairman of Hayneedle Inc., Doug Nielsen, is a co-founder of the company with his sister Julie Mahloch and business partner Mark Hasebroock, who is currently serving as Vice-Chairman. In October 2007 Carter Cast joined Hayneedle, then known as NetShops, as the new President and CEO. Carter helped found BlueNile.com and most recently held the position of President and CEO of WalMart.com. Shortly after, in March 2008, Hayneedle appointed Ash ElDifrawi as the company's first CMO. ElDifrawi was formerly an executive at Google.[2]
In December 2008, Hayneedle, then known as Netshops, was featured on "Eye on America," an informative television program covering a variety of topics, trends, and issues. The company was featured as part of the show’s series, "Online Innovators: Shopping for a Stress Free Life."
On February 5, 2009, Hayneedle, then known as NetShops, announced the laying off of 42 employees as part of an organizational restructuring necessitated by the economic downturn.[3] The company has since hired several full-time staff to address rebounding sales and aid in its re-branding effort.
On October 15, 2010, Hayneedle opened the Foundary, a web site on which the company stages flash sales of home products (furniture, cookware, linens, etc.) at discounted prices. It is a limited-time, limited-quantity format, with sales typically running for 72 hours.[4]
Visitors to the Foundary must become members and sign in to view sales events. Members receive emails announcing daily events and inviting them to shop. Sales typically start at 12 p.m. Eastern time. Membership is free.[5]
Hayneedle is privately held and funded by Insight Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital.
The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce named Hayneedle (then known as NetShops) one of "Omaha's Best Places to Work" in 2005 and 2006. They also awarded Hayneedle with the "2007 Excellence in Business Award" for local businesses.[6]
Hayneedle, as NetShops Inc., has been a Nebraska Better Business Bureau accredited business since 2002, and currently holds an "A+" rating with the BBB.[7] The BBB processed a total of 309 complaints about this company in the last 36 months (as of 8/15/08), the standard BBB reporting period. All of these complaints have been closed, including 170 closed in the last year.[7]
In 2007, Inc.com, the website for Inc. magazine, listed Hayneedle, then known as NetShops, as #154 on its "5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" list, which determines ranking based on revenue growth. Hayneedle ranked #13 on the same list in 2006. Of all online retail companies, Hayneedle (as NetShops) ranked #5 on Inc.'s list for 2007.[8]
Internet Retailer's Top 500 list placed Hayneedle (as NetShops) at #104 based on online gross revenue in 2007, and in 2008 they named Hayneedle (as NetShops) the 15th largest mass merchant on the web based on total web sales, and the 82nd largest retailer. In 2007 and 2008, Internet Retailer Magazine named Hayneedle (as NetShops) one of their Top 100 best internet retailers.[9]
Hayneedle was named to Internet Retailer's Hot 100 list of online merchants in 2009.[10]