Zulily Group has engaged the advisory firm Gordon Brothers to sell off more than $85 million of inventory and the assets of its two fulfillment centers following the online retailer’s decision late last year to shut down.
News of the wind-down first broke in December 2023, when the company began to advertise a liquidation sale on its website and filed several Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARNs) outlining planned layoffs. Gordon Brothers revealed in a press release this week that it was engaged by the company in December 2023 to “complete the orderly wind-down of the business and maximize the recovery for its creditors.” The Zulily website has now been replaced by a one-page letter from VP Ryan Baker commenting on the decision to shutter the business.
“This decision was not easy nor was it entered into lightly; however, given the challenging business environment in which Zulily operated and the corresponding financial instability, Zulily decided to take immediate and swift action,” said Baker in the statement.
Almost immediately after the liquidation sale began, Zulily filed a lawsuit against Amazon claiming that anticompetitive practices by Amazon played a large part in its demise.
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Gordon Brothers has now begun the process of selling what remains of Zulily’s inventory, which it described as a range of “nationally branded consumer products, including apparel, footwear, small appliances, beauty and housewares.” The company also is helping to sell the assets of Zulily’s two 775,000-square-foot fulfillment centers in Columbus, Ohio and Sparks, Nev., including material handling equipment, racking and other warehouse support machinery.
“This is a great opportunity to acquire a wide selection of well-known nationally branded fashion and home products inventory,” said Ulos Anderson, Senior Managing Director, Commercial and Industrial at Gordon Brothers in a statement. “As global market leaders with a 120-year history working with consumer product companies and retailers, we have been trusted in difficult situations to provide customized and rapid solutions that maximize asset value for our clients.”
Prior to beginning the asset sale, Zulily made every effort to fulfill all pending orders and refund orders that could not be filled, said Baker in his statement.
