Blue Nile is an online jewelry retailer established in 1999. The company is based in Seattle, Washington and competes with online retailers such as James Allen, Belgian Berlian, and Ringsberry.com.
Video Blue Nile (company)
History
The company that became Blue Nile started in 1995 when Doug Williams of Williams & amp; Son Inc. from Seattle started a website to sell diamonds online. Mark C. Vadon, then management consultant at Bain & amp; The company purchased the diamond engagement ring from the site in 1998. In 1999, Vadon collected $ 6 million to buy 85% of the company and fix the website. The company name was changed to Blue Nile in November 1999. Over the next year, the company generated an additional $ 44 million. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & amp; Byers. Blue Nile collected $ 76 million in an IPO on May 18, 2004. Merrill Lynch & amp; Co., Bear Stearns Cos. And Thomas Weisel Partners LLC manages the IPO, sharing a cost of $ 5.4 million. Initial public offering of shares at Blue Nile Inc, up 39% in first-day trading, closed at $ 28.40.
Although the company had $ 44 million in revenue in 2000, it lost $ 30 million for spending $ 40 million in television advertising. Investors contributed an additional $ 7 million in 2001. In 2006, Blue Nile sold $ 197 million in engagement rings and wedding rings, compared to $ 186 million for Tiffany & Together.
In November 2011, CEO Diane Irvine, who has worked in the company for 12 years and its CEO since 2008, suddenly resigned. Irvine was temporarily replaced by senior vice president and general manager Vijay Talwar internationally. In March 2012, Harvey Kanter, former CEO of MooseJaw, was appointed new CEO.
In 2015, Blue Nile reported net sales of US $ 473 million and net income of US $ 9.7 million. Blue Nile promotes itself as an ethically sourced diamond supplier and supports a zero-tolerance policy toward conflict diamonds.
In the summer of 2015, Blue Nile opened their first web space at Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, NY, the company plans to open three more webspaces by 2016 at The Westchester mall in White Plains, NY, at the Tysons Corner Center mall in Fairfax County, Va., And at the Washington Square mall outside of Portland.
Blue Nile is named the winner of the Bizrate Circle of Excellence Award in 2016.
In June 2017, former Chief Digital Officer Target, Jason Goldberger, was appointed CEO of Blue Nile. Goldberger also spends time in Gilt Groupe, Hayneedle and Amazon.
Acquisitions
Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC acquired Blue Nile in February 2017, for $ 40.75 per share (about $ 500 million). First announced in November 2016, Blue Nile Inc. shares up 34%.
Maps Blue Nile (company)
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia