Change Clothes: Thrillist Scoops Up JackThreads

Thrillist Scoops Up JackThreads

JackThreads has been one of my favorite online retailers for a while now. I first wrote about them for CoolHunting back in December 2008. It’s one of these members only, like Gilt Groupe, special discout prices type of site. I’ve bought quite a few items from them, but recently I was a little less happy about the way the business was running:

1. I used to get my orders immediate. And nowadays, deliveries take several weeks.

2. When I sent an email to customer service I got a response. The last email I sent to customer service, I got no response but I did get a $10 credit for supposedly signing up a friend. (Now I have signed up people since 2008, but I wasn’t really sure if this sudden $10 was from a real friend, or simply because I had a concern about my order’s delivery.)

3. I used to get direct responses from the site’s founder Jason Ross, but as of late, he had pulled a bit back from the customer service portion of the business.

Well at least now it looks like I have a better answer than simply the we’ve changed fulfillment or warehouse options that I read either on Twitter or Facebook from the JT team. Sometimes, when a deal is in progress, things do tend to fall off. Just wish it wasn’t when I was waiting for orders.

Here’s the press release about that Thrillist Acquisition of JackThreads (A shame that longstanding members such as myself weren’t notified directly by the company):

Thrillist Makes Move Into Commerce; Acquires JackThreads

Thrillist.com, the leading men’s digital lifestyle publication, has acquired members-only online retailer JackThreads.com, expanding Thrillist’s footprint into e-commerce. Thrillist will now offer its user base exclusive access to JackThreads’ private shopping community as an added benefit to subscribing.

“This is a win-win for Thrillist and JackThreads, and with so much happening in the online commerce space, we feel like our timing is perfect. JackThreads has done a spectacular job forging strong relationships with casual-wear brands, and we’re excited to leverage these connections to benefit our readers. We’re particularly impressed with the infrastructure that Jason and his team have created and see e-commerce as an exciting ancillary revenue stream for Thrillist with lots of potential,” said Ben Lerer, Co-founder and CEO of Thrillist.

“Joining forces with Thrillist is the opportunity of a lifetime. Combining the supplier/brand relationships of JackThreads with the exclusive audience of Thrillist creates a game-changing partnership within the men’s media landscape,” said Jason Ross, Founder and CEO of JackThreads.