Report: Alibaba will pull plug on 11Main

Hangzhou, China – Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Holding Group Inc. will reportedly pull the plug on its 11Main U.S. specialty e-commerce site. According to TechCrunch, Alibaba plans to fold 11Main into New York-based social shopping platform OpenSky.



The deal would also merge Alibaba’s U.S.-based logistics and support companies Auctiva, Vendio, and SingleFeed, which primarily serve to support 11Main’s operations, into OpenSky. Alibaba will become a 37% owner of OpenSky as a result of the transaction, expected to close in July 2015.



The 11Main site is currently still operational. The combined inventory will consist of 50,000 brands and millions of shoppers. 11Main specializes in bringing small boutique retailers to a wider online audience than they could attract on their own.



Sources indicate that the 11Main VPs of marketing, product and merchandising, as well as the entire merchandising team, have already left the company and many other employees will be laid off once the deal goes through, although some will keep their jobs with OpenSky. It is not clear if the 11Main brand will be maintained by OpenSky.