Zulily's founders came from Blue Nile, the online diamond seller, and they built a store that changed its shelves every day. Each morning brought new flash sales on children's clothes, toys and home goods, open for only a few days. Moms came back to see what was new. When the Seattle company filed to go public in 2013, it had 2.6 million active customers and $331 million in revenue. Investors were still deciding whether flash sales could last.

Two Blue Nile Veterans

Mark Vadon had founded Blue Nile. Darrell Cavens had worked there with him. They started Zulily in December 2009 and launched the site in January 2010. The bet was on moms who shopped for fun and liked a surprise. Zulily gave them a new store every day, stocked with deals from brands they did not see at the mall. The daily drop gave shoppers a reason to open the site again the next morning.

A 71 Percent Debut

Zulily priced its shares at $22 in November 2013 and listed on Nasdaq as ZU. The stock closed its first day at $37.70, up 71 percent. Growth slowed after that. In 2015 Liberty Interactive bought Zulily for $2.4 billion and put it beside QVC. In 2023 Liberty's successor, Qurate, sold it to the private equity firm Regent. Less than eight months later the site went dark and the company wound down. Beyond Inc. bought the brand in 2024 for $4.5 million.

Cover: Lilies, from an untitled series of Large Flowers, Katsushika Hokusai. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for lilies (zuLILY).