Boo faces collapse for the second time

by Gordon MacMillan,, Brand Republic 03-Dec-01, 08:41

LONDON - Fashion website Boo.com is facing the prospect of closure once more as Fashionmall.com, which rescued the site after it crashed, looks set to close it.

Fashionmall.com, a New York-based fashion portal, said it was considering pulling out of online retailing as it is doing too little business online to justify the continuing costs.

It is understood that Fashionmall once employed 23 people a figure now down to three and set to be reduced further.

Boo.com collapsed 18 months ago after only six months of operation and months of delays. It managed to spend £80m of venture capital investment during 18 months.

Fashionmall acquired the Boo brand and domain name from the liquidators KPMG and, at the time, the company said it intended to succeed where Boo.com failed by altering the site's business model.

Fashionmall moved the Boo business model away from direct retail to a portal connecting consumers with retailers, manufacturers and catalogues. As well as bringing the site back to life, it also bought the site's virtual shopping assistant -- Ms Boo.

The story of Boo was recently recounted by founder Ernst Malmsten, the twenty-something Nordic poet whose book Boo Hoo: A Dotcom Story followed the company from concept to catastrophe.

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