Hayneedle

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Hayneedle, Inc.
Type Private
Industry eCommerce, Online shopping
Founded 2002
Founder(s) Doug Nielsen, Julie Mahloch, Mark Hasebroock
Headquarters Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Key people Doug Nielsen (President & CEO)
Employees 300-400
Website hayneedle.com

Hayneedle is an online retail company based in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. The company owns and operates hayneedle.com, an online specialty store with a focus on home products. Hayneedle currently employs over 500 people in the Omaha Metro area and Monroe, Ohio.

History

Hayneedle began in 2002 with a single store, Hammocks.com. Over the next few years, the company opened dozens more online stores, each focused on one particular type of product, developing a portfolio of sites focused on home and patio furnishings. In 2005, the company unified under the name NetShops, and continued its rapid category expansion. By acquiring Duluth, Minn.-based Thralow, Inc. in 2006, the company gained key properties Telescopes.com and Binoculars.com, and underwent an internal restructuring.[1] 2007 saw another corporate restructuring, more niche website expansion, and the acquisition of GiftBaskets.com. By this time NetShops had launched and operated hundreds of online specialty shops.

In 2009, the company unveiled its new brand and identity as Hayneedle.[2] The company's flagship website, hayneedle.com, is positioned as the place to find everything home, collecting many products and categories into one store. Hayneedle still owns and operates hundreds of niche store websites, both under and outside of the hayneedle.com umbrella. A proprietary ecommerce platform enables the continual development and launch of new online businesses and product categories that the company recognizes as underserved in the retail market.

On October 15, 2010, Hayneedle opened the Foundary, a separate website on which the company stages limited-time sales of home products from designer brands at discounted prices. The site features a limited-time, limited-quantity format, with 3 to 4 sales launching per day, each typically lasting 72 hours. The Foundary is a members-only website; membership is free.

Leadership and changes

The current president and CEO of Hayneedle is Doug Nielsen, one of the original founders, along with partners Julie Mahloch and Mark Hasebroock.[3] Nielsen was at the helm from the company's inception until 2007, when Carter Cast, formerly of BlueNile and Walmart.com, served as CEO during the brand relaunch. The Hayneedle executive team expanded and changed throughout the brand transition from 2007 to 2009. In 2010 Nielsen and Cast exchanged roles, with Nielsen resuming control of day-to-day operations for all of Hayneedle.[4]

Hayneedle has gone through a number of internal changes, hiring and laying off employees in keeping with business and economic climates, but has experienced double-digit growth over the course of its history. Today the company continues to be headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Hayneedle's customer service center and photo studio are also based in Omaha. A large distribution center is located in Monroe, Ohio.[5] The company has hired over 100 people per year since 2010, currently employing over 500 people across its locations.

Hayneedle is privately held and funded by Insight Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital.

Specialty stores and websites

Hayneedle.com

Hayneedle.com is the company's flagship store, selling a wide variety of items focused on the home. Under the tagline "Find Everything Home," this site offers outdoor and indoor furniture, accents and decor, products for the bedroom, bathroom, and nursery, kids furniture and toys, fitness products, pet products, and more.

Specialty Stores

The company operates over 300 websites focused on selling a wide selection of a single type of product, such as hammocks.com, dartboards.com, and coffeemakers.com. These sites feature deep product selection across categories for home and more.

The Foundary

A members-only flash sales website, the Foundary offers a curated selection of home products and decor at discounted prices.[6] Sales on products and brands are divided into events, with 3 - 4 events launching each day in the morning and some special events in the evening. The Foundary also now includes Specialty Shops, longer-form sales with a specific design, room, brand, or style focus.

Ratings and media

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 149 complaints about this company in the last 36 months (as of 4/23/12), the standard BBB reporting period. All of these complaints have been closed, including 50 in the last 12 months.[8]

The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce named Hayneedle (then known as NetShops) one of "Omaha's Best Places to Work" in 2005 and 2006, and awarded Hayneedle the "Excellence in Business Award" in 2007[9] and 2008.[10]

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.[11] Hayneedle ranked #69 in 2010, #77 in 2011, and #85 in 2012 on the magazine's Top 500 Internet Retailers list.[12]

Inc.com, the website for Inc. magazine, listed Hayneedle (as NetShops) at #13 on its "5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" list in 2006 and #154 in 2007. Hayneedle (as NetShops) also ranked at #5 for all online retail companies in 2007.

Hayneedle was named to Internet Retailer's Hot 100 list of online merchants in 2009.[13]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20061116005849/en/Internet-Retailer-NetShops-Acquires-Binoculars.com-Telescopes.com
  2. ↑ http://www.omaha.com/article/20090812/MONEY/708129984
  3. ↑ http://www.hayneedleinc.com/about-us/history
  4. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hayneedle-executives-shuffle-roles-105280688.html
  5. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hayneedlecom-cuts-ribbon-on-new-distribution-center-in-monroe-on-thursday-july-15-2010-98253684.html
  6. ↑ http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2010/10/hayneedle-launches-the-foundary-a-niche-daily-deal-site
  7. ↑ http://www.bbb.org/nebraska/business-reviews/internet-shopping/hayneedle-in-omaha-ne-104009872
  8. ↑ http://www.bbb.org/nebraska/business-reviews/internet-shopping/hayneedle-in-omaha-ne-104009872
  9. ↑ http://www.omahachamber.org/chamber/EventDetail.aspx?EventDateID=7499
  10. ↑ http://www.omahachamber.org/chamber/EventDetail.aspx?EventDateID=10305
  11. ↑ "Internet Retailer". Internet Retailer. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
  12. ↑ http://www.internetretailer.com/top500/list/
  13. ↑ "Internet Retailer Hot 100". Internet Retailer. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 

External links

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