Luxi Group, a private holding company focused on the luxury goods market, has acquired assets related to Ashford.com from Odimo Inc., which is No. 151 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. With the sale, Ashford.com has its third owner in five years and heads for a mid-June relaunch. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
The next version of Ashford.com is being positioned as a source for designer and brand name watches and other luxury products by Luxi Group. The group is led by Internet retailing veteran Eli Katz in partnership with the Wechsler family, which has expertise in diamond and jewelry manufacturing.
The business was founded by Samuel Wechsler in 1951. Second- and third-generation family members now operate the company out of New York, Antwerp, Tel Aviv and Bombay.
Ashford’s new owners and leaders bring more than 60 years of experience in the jewelry and diamond manufacturing business, says Katz, president and CEO of Ashford.com. The refurbished e-commerce site’s success depends on experience at multiple levels, Katz contends.
“The group behind the web site is not just about Internet retailing but also the wholesale supply side, with strong fulfillment experience,” he says.
The business model is about buying products and having the supply, he adds. Not mysterious, but fundamental. “What happens with e-commerce makes outsiders think one secret ingredient changes everything,” he says. “It’s not like that. It’s a bunch of little things that make the difference between successful and unsuccessful sites.”
Katz is CEO of The Inside Store, which he founded in 2004. The Inside Store is No. 476 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. In 1995 Katz founded iBeauty, one of the earliest e-commerce sites, and following that was the CEO of HomeClick.com.
Luxi Group is the retail holding company for an international jewelry and diamond manufacturing concern led by the Wechsler family. With a combination of technology and more than six decades of jewelry and diamond experience, Ashford.com is expected to provide a broad product selection at competitive prices. Luxi Group also plans additional acquisitions in 2007, Katz says.
One of the earliest luxury e-commerce sites on the Web, Ashford.com was launched in 1998. By 2001, Ashford was at the forefront of the online luxury market with revenues exceeding $65 million, Katz says.
Odimo is closing out its e-commerce operations with the Ashford.com sale. Odimo sold Diamond.com to Ice.com in May for $9.5 million. In October the company announced plans to sell its WorldofWatches.com domain name and selected technology and equipment to ILS Holdings LLC for $410,000.
Odimo, which also owned and operated Diamond.com and WorldofWatches.com, acquired Ashford in late 2002 from GSI Commerce Inc. Amazon.com was an early investor in Ashford.
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