Birchbox, a beauty products subscription business, has placed a notice on its UK website advising that it is no longer fulfilling orders or shipping subscription boxes. Acquired last year by a US based firm called FemTec Health for a stated US$45m, Birchbox had operated since 2010 and, at its peak, had claimed to have 2.5 million active customers.
Formed as a beauty products sampling business by Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, which was a new concept at the time, both have exited the business. Beauchamp emerged recently as CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty.
Word is that the current owners of the business may now seek Chapter 11 protection in the US but there is, as yet, no word as to whether UK suppliers and customers will have much hope of recovering what they are owed. It is being suggested that some 1500 UK customers have failed to receive the £70 advent calendars they had ordered, most of these can expect to be compensated in time by their credit card issuers. It is not known how many UK employees are affected.
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