Will Kanye West Buy This Boston E-Commerce Company?
Karmaloop has filed for bankruptcy, and Mr. West is reportedly interested in buying it.
Damon Dash said he and Kanye West are planning to buy Karmaloop, as the Boston-based e-commerce and lifestyle company announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
But Karmaloop founder Greg Selkoe said Dash and West are among many potential suitors.
“We’ve been contacted about that, but there’s nothing official, no,’’ he told Boston.com. “They’re one of a number of groups contacting us trying to work out a deal.’’
The 15-year-old e-tailer voluntarily petitioned for federal aid to relieve the company of acquired debt following failed side ventures, like the MissKL and Boylston Trading Co. sub-brands. Karmaloop says projects that failed to come to fruition hindered the company, causing them to “carry debt for business that didn’t exist.’’
“Let me preface what I’m saying with Karmaloop is open for business, and we’re going forward,’’ Selkoe said. “The core business continues to still do well, this has nothing to do with the existing brand.’’
With the aid of a $3 million investment from Comvest Partners, the company will take part in a 363 sale process and restructuring, which will allow the group to fuel their main brand, as well as their European counterpart, StreetAmo, flash sale site PLNDR, and indie brand marketplace, Kazbah.
Selkoe, who started Karmaloop in a Jamaica Plain basement, says Dash isn’t the only interested party, and that the other potential buyers are “some of the best in the world that we inhabit.’’
Dash’s interest in Karmaloop was revealed in an interview with the Hip Hop Motivation, in which he said, “Me and Kanye are gonna buy Karmaloop, so you’ll probably feel that by the time this is out.’’
According to Dash, a purchase of Karmaloop would be to settle beef with Complex Media’s owner Marc Ecko. Dash recently addressed his issues with Ecko in a series of social media posts, accusing Ecko of [making] money off “urban people,’’ and tweeting artists are “being robbed’’ by Complex.
While Complex lives in the same streetwear ecosytem as Karmaloop, the two are not direct competitors. (Complex primarily provides content, while Karmaloop primarily provides apparel.)
Selkoe says he knows and likes Dash, but, “If it had come from us, we probably wouldn’t have talked about anything yet because it’s a little premature. But they chose to speak about it and that doesn’t mean we’re not interested. We certainly are, but we’re not quite down the road yet.’’
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