Posted on 05/05/2014 1:48:17 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Wayfair is an e-commerce site selling home furnishings. But with 1,600 employees, its physical presence is rapidly outgrowing its space in an obelisklike skyscraper in Bostons Back Baywhich happens to be a former hub of the Christian Science church. Long gone are the white shag carpets, wood paneling and executive-floor elevators that once allowed church higher-ups to avoid hoi polloi. Flat-panel TVs on each of 12 floors beam not messages of faith healing but maps of the U.S. and Europe that light up whenever theres a sale. Within seconds Katherine from Decatur, Tex. buys a $49 tungsten wedding ring, Jen adds a $94 cherrywood bar stool to her lounge in upstate New York, and Jenna in Connecticut picks up a $102 gray Parsons kitchen chair.
We installed those TVs so we dont forget what were doing, explains Niraj Shah, the dapper, bald 40-year-old CEO and cofounder of Wayfair. Hes passing through the 24th floor with cofounder and Chairman Steve Conine, 41, a more hirsute, if less buttoned-down, counterpart. Were selling people things to put in their homes.
A lot of thingsmore than 10 million tables, sofas, patio chairs, cat playgrounds and so forth, just last year. If its margins are in line with other e-commerce sites, Wayfair netted an estimated $18 million on $915 million in 2013, up 55% from the year before. It sells goods to customers across the U.S., Canada, Germany and the U.K. Each month more than 11 million peoplemostly 35- to 65-year-old womenvisit Wayfair.com...
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
They do have nice stuff.
I thought a ‘sofa’ WAS a ‘cat playground’?...........................
ROTL!
Everything in the house is a cat playground!
Perhaps the author is, how shall we say ... interested in interior decorating?
It’s a magazine article, not a news story.
Their prices seem to be a bit high when I see their stuff on Walmart.com.
Sofa, it’s a combo cat scratching post, shedding spot, sleeping space and claw stretcher..............
...elevators that once allowed church higher-ups to avoid hoi polloi.
Also, I have bought from them or one of their predecessors with different names and have been very happy with the value for top name furniture.
Ahoy Polloi! Where did you come from, a scotch ad?
You forgot hairball receptacle...
Just bought some funky blue glass pendant lamps from them today!
But of course! It goes without saying!..........................
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