800.com Acquires Roxy Satellite & Wireless
By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 5/21/2001
PORTLAND, ORE. — The dot-com consolidation continued this month with the acquisition of Roxy Satellite & Wireless by leading pure play CE e-tailer 800.com.
The deal, whose terms were not disclosed, gives 800.com immediate entry into the wireless arena, and further solidifies its position as a top online destination for consumer electronics. Assets include the Web site software and URLs of Roxy and its subsidiary EverythingWireless.com, their combined 800,000-name consumer database and Roxy's mail order operation.
"It's a great match," said 800 founder/ CEO Greg Drew, pointing to the high-service philosophy shared by both e-tailers and their lack of assortment overlap. "It fits perfectly with our business model and accelerates our path toward profitability."
Drew said his company is retaining CEO Keith Clougherty and president Andy Link as consultants during the transition, during which Roxy's web site and toll-free numbers will link shoppers directly to 800.com. He said 800 had been planning to enter the wireless category independent of the acquisition, and that those preparations will allow it to take on Roxy's volume without adding new infrastructure.
Roxy was founded in 1996 by Clougherty in Hopkinton, Mass., as a mail order and telemarketing shop that specialized in satellite systems and wireless products. After launching an e-commerce operation and broadening its assortment to include digital CE devices, the company hired retail veteran Mike Jeans to run the business and took in outside investors including Federated Department Stores — which held a 40-percent stake — plus NBCi and ValueVision International.
Earlier this year Roxy merged with its acquired subsidiary EverythingWireless and relocated it headquarters and operations to Miramar, Fla.
Drew said his team will decide over the next few weeks whether to continue the infomercials and other marketing programs that Roxy had developed through its partnerships with ValueVision and NBCi. Roxy was ranked 97th on TWICE's CE Retail Registry with $32 million in CE sales last year, while 800 came in 89th with $46 million in revenue.
