JackThreads seeking sale following massive layoffs

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Feb 27, 2017

E-commerce website JackThreads is looking for a buyer, according to the American media. The menswear retailer reportedly laid off majority of its staff and is looking to sell. A spokesperson confirmed the news with Fortune on Friday.

"Last Wednesday we made changes to meaningfully reduce the burn and to enable these various conversations to reach their conclusions," said the spokesperson. "We're confident this effort will help us to finalize one of several deals on the table and to maximize the opportunity for both our employees and investors."

JackThreads let go of most of its customer service team, which has impacted its business. Many customers took to social media to express their dissatisfaction for orders being cancelled and for being unable to reach customer service. 

Thrillist Media Group acquired JackThreads in 2010 in an attempt to combine e-commerce with content, but the two companies separated in 2015 after securing $54 million in funding from Axel Springer for Thrillist and Oak Partners and SBNY for JackThreads.
 
Following the split, JackThreads took a page out of Trunk Club’s and Five Four’s books with TryOuts, a new feature that allowed customers to pull as much product as they wanted, purchase what they like and return what they don’t want to keep.

Founded in 2008 by Jason Ross, JackThreads sells menswear brands such as Alpha Industries, Fred Perry, Herschel Supply Co., Wood Wood and Timberland. The online retailer launched an in-house namesake label in 2015 and collaborated with brands Cole Haan and Reebok on limited edition pieces styles.