08 November 2000



570,000 Customers Were Not Enough

With news to send a shiver down the spine of on-line pet retailers everywhere, the world's best known, Pets.com has just announced the failure of its on-line operation which is to be completely wound down with the loss of up to 300 jobs.

In a final embarrassment the US retailer is being forced to sell most of its assets, including stock, distribution equipment, intellectual properties, site content and even its most sought after web-site address.

The news follows exhaustive efforts over the past few months to raise new capital and then finally an attempt to sell the company en-block. However, no one was ready to provide more funds or stump up to buy the company

Julie Wainwright, Chairman and CEO of the San Francisco Based retailer and who also sits on the board of pet info site Petplace.com said:

"It is well known that this is a very very difficult environment for business to consumer Internet companies. With no better offers and avenues effectively exhausted, we felt that the best option was an orderly wind down with the objective to try to return something back to the shareholders. We truly feel that we conducted a lengthy, thorough and thoughtful process to try to maximize shareholder value."

"We thank our nearly 570,000 customers and hope that you enjoyed your experience with us, whether it was to read our informative content, or to purchase toys and food to delight your animal friends. Your feedback, patronage, and passion for pets inspired us to excel daily. For those of you with outstanding orders, we would refer you to our web-store for more information. And to the employees, I want to thank you for your dedication. The entire team represents the best group of people I have ever worked with."

Copyright 2000 Steve O'Malley (UKPets).
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