To the dismay of independent retailers, which include gift and lifestyle stores Lark, Jumping Bean, &Quirky and Distincly Living, online marketplace Trouva is, yet again, looking for a buyer, its fourth in three years, with the company stopping all new orders on its online marketplace.
Almost 500 boutiques currently listed as selling through Trouva received an email last Friday, 31 January, stating: “We have made the difficult decision to temporarily pause trading on Trouva while we actively seek a buyer for the business”, adding: “During this pause, your shop will no longer receive new orders through Trouva. If you have any pending orders in your Retail Panel, these will be cancelled and the customer will be refunded. If you are owed any money for orders that have already been fulfilled, we will reach out to you shortly.”
“The website is still there,” &Quirky’s owner, Paul Chesire, told PG Buzz, GiftsandHome.net’s sister digital newsletter. “However, if you go to place an order it says we’re not accepting orders, which is good, but it’s all a bit bizarre.”
The Trouva business was incorporated in January 2013, then secured £17m in further investment to accelerate internation expansion, before being bought by Made.com in 2022, just five months before that business collapsed.
Trouva wasn’t included in Next’s rescue deal for Made.com and instead went toRe:store, a platform that allows a customer to start a video call with a physical store, at the start of 2023 then, in April 2024, the AI-enabled marketplace for home and living Fy! bought the platform for an undisclosed sum and is the current owner alongside Project J, which has investment from venture capitalists Hoxton Ventures.
According to Sky News Project J has engaged accountancy firm RSM to seek the latest owner for Trouva, with Fy! unaffected by the sale. “This has been an incredibly difficult decision, but we have decided to focus our efforts on building the Fy! brand and explore the options for a sale of Trouva,” Project J co-founder Jonathan Thomson told Sky News. “By exploring a potential sale, we are creating an opportunity for Trouva to continue its journey. We believe this is in the best interests of the business, boutiques and the team.”
Top: Trouva has paused trading as it seeks a buyer.
