Kozmo.com

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Former online retailer and delivery service

title: "Kozmo.com" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["retail-companies-established-in-1998", "internet-properties-established-in-1998", "retail-companies-disestablished-in-2001", "internet-properties-disestablished-in-2001", "defunct-retail-companies-of-the-united-states", "online-retailers-of-the-united-states", "companies-based-in-new-york-city", "defunct-online-companies-of-the-united-states", "dot-com-bubble"] description: "Former online retailer and delivery service" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozmo.com" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former online retailer and delivery service ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Kozmo.com
logo	File:Kozmo.com logo.png
foundation	1998
defunct	2001
fate	Liquidation
location	New York City, United States
key_people	Joseph Park
Yong Kang
industry	Retail
products	Online store, delivery service
::

Kozmo.com was a venture capital–funded online company that promised free one-hour delivery of "videos, games, DVDs, music, mags, books, food, basics and more"{{cite web |url=http://kozmo.com |title=Kozmo.com Splash page |publisher=Kozmo.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408214847/http://www.kozmo.com/ |archivedate=2000-04-08 |accessdate=2010-07-10 |url-status=dead | first = Eric | last=Wahlgren | title =Legacies of the Dot-Com Revolution | magazine =Business Week | date =March 20, 2001 | url =http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/mar2001/ca20010320_628.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20010405145212/http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/mar2001/ca20010320_628.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =April 5, 2001 | accessdate = 2007-07-17 }} In January 2013, the brand was bought by Yummy.com and announced that they would relaunch soon. In March 2018, Kozmo was relaunched as a warehouse club. The Kozmo.com website is offline as of July 2023.

Model

Kozmo had a business model built around the delivery of small purchased goods within an hour by bicycle, car, truck, or public transportation for no delivery fee. The model was criticized by some business analysts, who said that one-hour point-to-point delivery of small objects is extremely expensive and were skeptical that Kozmo could make a profit as long as it refused to charge delivery fees.{{cite magazine |title=Kozmo.com Pedaling To The Precipice? |magazine=Forbes |first=Davide |last=Dukcevich |date=June 22, 2000 |url=https://www.forbes.com/2000/06/22/mu3.html |accessdate=2010-04-16

History

Kozmo.com's headquarters was in New York City. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 1999 the company had revenue of $3.5 million, with a resulting net loss of $26.3 million.{{cite web | title =Kozmo Com Inc SEC filing · S-1 · On 3/20/00 | publisher =SECInfo.com | date =March 20, 2000 | url =http://www.secinfo.com/dRqWm.5c8t.htm | accessdate =2008-01-07 }} The company had raised probably about $250 million, including $28 million from a group of investors in 1999 which included Flatiron, Oak and Chase and $60 million from Amazon.com in 2000.{{cite web |title = Press Release: Amazon.com Announces Investment... |last = Greenspan |first = Sharon |publisher = Amazon.com |date = March 20, 2000 |url = http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=81108&highlight=%20press%20release |accessdate = 2007-07-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171103154104/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=81108&highlight=%20press%20release |archive-date = November 3, 2017 |url-status = dead |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-236857.html |title=Kozmo.com sees more sales in Starbucks deal |first= Joe |last=Wilcox |publisher=News.com |date=February 14, 2000 |accessdate=April 16, 2010 |first=John C. |last=Wu |title=Anatomy of a Dot-Com |publisher=Supply Chain Management Review |date=November 1, 2001 |url=http://www.scmr.com/article/CA184173.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040821125230/http://www.manufacturing.net/scm/index.asp?layout=articleWebzine&articleid=CA184173 |archivedate=August 21, 2004 |accessdate=2007-07-17 |url-status=dead

The company was the subject of an April 2000 report by MSNBC.com reporters Brock N. Meeks and Elliot Zaret claiming that Kozmo was redlining sections of the cities it served that were populated primarily by African Americans. Kozmo denied that race played any part in its decision on what zip codes to deliver to, saying it chose market areas based primarily on Internet penetration rates.{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.com/news/373212.asp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001217050000/http://www.msnbc.com/news/373212.asp?cp1=1 |archivedate=December 17, 2000 |title=Kozmo's digital dividing lines |author=Zaret, Eliot |author2=Meeks, Brock |publisher=MSNBC.com |date=April 11, 2000 |accessdate=2010-03-11 |url-status=dead | title =Kozmo delivering 'consumer racism'? | author = Eliot Zaret | publisher =ZDNET News | date =April 11, 2000 | url =http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-502252.html | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071215123930/http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-502252.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =December 15, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-07-17 }} -- The Equal Rights Center (ERC), the Washington, DC–based civil rights group referenced in the article, pursued the company about the allegations. Later in the year, the ERC announced a joint initiative with Kozmo and stated that "Kozmo's initial service area was not motivated by racial discrimination," and Kozmo committed $125,000 toward increased Internet availability for underserved communities.{{cite web |url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kozmo.com+and+Equal+Rights+Center+Announce+Initiative+to+Bridge+the...-a067584214 |title = Kozmo.com and Equal Rights Center Announce Initiative to Bridge the Digital Divide |publisher = Business Wire |date = December 5, 2000 |accessdate = 2010-03-11 |archive-date = 2012-10-18 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121018052823/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kozmo.com+and+Equal+Rights+Center+Announce+Initiative+to+Bridge+the...-a067584214 |url-status = dead

While popular with college students and young professionals,{{cite news | last = Casselman | first= Ben | title =Kozmo.com Website Goes Out of Business | newspaper =Columbia Spectator | date =April 17, 2001 | url =http://eyedev.columbiaspectator.com/2001/04/17/kozmocom-website-goes-out-business | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110708175851/http://eyedev.columbiaspectator.com/2001/04/17/kozmocom-website-goes-out-business | archivedate = 2011-07-08 | url-status = dead | accessdate = 2007-07-17 }} the company failed soon after the burst of the dot-com bubble, laying off its staff of 1,100 employees and shutting down in April 2001. Employees at many of the company's 18 locations found out about the shutdown only after arriving to work their scheduled shifts and finding the doors locked. Those locations, as well as their Memphis distribution center, were soon liquidated by a veteran entertainment wholesaler from Florida.

Post-Kozmo

The documentary film e-Dreams, released in June 2001, depicts the growth and fate of the company. In April 2005, former CTO Chris Siragusa launched MaxDelivery, a Kozmo-like service in downtown Manhattan specializing in the delivery of food, wine, DVDs and essentials, and is still in business as of November, 2018.

Joseph Park, former co-founder and CEO, went on to co-found Askville in 2006, which is now part of Amazon.com. Park left Amazon.com in June 2009 to become president of BibleGateway.com, which is owned by Zondervan, a Christian publisher that is a unit of HarperCollins (which is owned by News Corp.).{{cite web | title =Kozmo.com founder Park leaves Amazon for Bible Gateway | first =Eric | last =Engleman | publisher =TechFlash | date= September 29, 2009 | url =http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/09/former_kozmocom_ceo_park_leaves_amazon_askville_for_biblegateway.html | accessdate =2010-04-28 }}

Yong Kang, former co-founder, returned to Wall Street, and as of June 2008 listed his occupation as investment banking at Lehman Brothers (now Barclays Capital).

Some grocery-store delivery chains offering online ordering with same-day delivery survived the dot-com bust, and in the 2010s various competing same-day delivery services started in larger U.S. cities.

References

Melton, James. (March 23, 2018). "Online grocery pioneer Kozmo.com returns as a warehouse club".
[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Oct_13/ai_56252091/pg_1 "Kozmo.com Receives $28 Million from Flatiron, Oak Investment, Chase Capital and Others"]. [[Business Wire]], Press Release. October 13, 1999. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
(February 14, 2000). "Kozmo.com will pay Starbucks $150M".
Sandoval, Greg (February 29, 2000). [http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-237445.html "Kozmo may deliver itself to the public"]. ''[[News.com]]''. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
Sandoval, Greg (April 11, 2001). [http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-255710.html "Kozmo to shut down, lay off 1,100"]. ''[[News.com]]''. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
(April 12, 2001). "Kozmo.com Ceases Operations, Fires Entire 1,100-Person Staf".
Cantrell, Amanda (September 14, 2005) [https://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/technology/kozmo_redux/index.htm "Rebirth of Kozmo.com, kind of"]. [[CNN]], ''[http://CNNMoney.com CNNMoney.com]''. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
Metz, Rachel. (July 13, 2005). "Diapers Revive Dead Dot-Com".
Henricks, Mark. (May 29, 2008). "Where are they now: Kozmo.com". The Industry Standard.

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