Luxe Biz - LVMH Stopping The Bleeding At ELuxury.com

OK....I'll admit that I'm last to the party on posting this news. Lauren Dimet Waters at Second City Style and Wendy B were all over this WWD article yesterday about LVMH closing their internet business, ELuxury.com.

I think that Wendy pretty much summed it up with this remark

The spokeswoman at LVMH, which owns eLuxury, apparently took a hit off her bong and, while exhaling, claimed that the closure is "not based on the site's financial performance, but rather because many of the brands it sells have developed their own online presences."

Not based on the site's financial performance???

Oh come on...that is some major spin from the LVMH people.

From WWD

Sucharita Mulpuru, an e-commerce analyst for the Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc., said she was shocked to hear of eLuxury’s decision to close its retail business. “I’m honestly really surprised,” she said. “It seemed to be doing so well.”

Mulpuru said that with the luxury market hurting overall and stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus suffering in this economy, she predicts there will be many more store closings, both online and offline. “Anyone who isn’t strong in this environment is especially vulnerable and will not survive,” she said. “But I really didn’t see this one coming.”

(Not that this is news but here we have another industry analyst who just didn't see it coming....remember that the next time you invest in a stock based on an opinion by an industry analyst!)

I always thought that the eLuxury mix looked like closeout inventory that they didn't have a prayer of selling through any other channels. But I did like the concept of one stop online shopping for top brands.

I'm sorry to see the business close and I wonder if this is a portent of the near future for online retailing.