As an editor of Retail Dive, it’s my job to keep tabs on every piece of retail-related news—the good, the bad, and the silly. From Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s trailer park menagerie to an extreme Ikea hack, here are some of the most interesting reads from the past week.
Not quite a llama drama
Tony Hsieh, CEO of e-commerce shoe retailer Zappos, lives in an Airstream trailer on a vacant lot in downtown Las Vegas near Zappos headquarters. The trailer park has several animals, including chickens, a group of dogs, a cat, and (you know, why not?) a curious alpaca named Marley. Modern Farmer has the full story.
Blake Lively’s short retail stint
Blake Lively’s Preserve, we barely knew you! The Hollywood starlet shut down her year-old e-commerce website this week, telling Vogue that it wasn’t “making a difference in people's lives, whether superficially or in a meaningful way.”
While one star falls, another rises
Racked’s Chavie Lieber details the ascent of Jessica Simpson’s billion dollar retail empire, and her transition from “America’s sweetheart” to “America’s retail queen.”
Ikea play place
By now, you've probably heard of Ikea “hacks,” where do-it-yourself-ers take standard Ikea bookshelves, drawers, and frames and turn them into beautiful home decor masterpieces. But taking a typical kid's bed and turning it into a secret hideout of childhood dreams? That’s some next level hackery.