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Footwear Expert Zappos Looks for a Fit in the Hospitality Business

Deanna Ting

Photo Credit: Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. The Amazon-owned online shoe and clothing retailer recently announced it is planning to launch a hotel business. Flickr / Silicon Prairie News/Malone & Company Photography

Skift Take

It will be interesting to see what derives from Zappos' entry into the hotel business, and how it chooses to brand it. Given its Amazon ownership and funding, CEO Hsieh's knack for disruption, and the company's overall commitment to customer service, we can expect something pretty unique.

At the Global Wellness Summit in Tyrol, Austria, Zappos, the Amazon-owned online footwear and clothing retailer announced it is contemplating a foray into a new business model: hotels. Maggie Hsu, chief of staff to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who made the announcement at the summit, told Skift, "I spoke about the fact that we're considering going into hospitality but didn't officially announce a Zappos hotel brand … We're in the very early stages of brainstorming so I'd love to be back in touch in a few months when we've made more progress." This isn't the first time Zappos has made an allusion to entering the hotel industry. As far back as June 2014, Hsieh made a comment, via Twitter, that the company could potentially have hotels, in a Twitter chat: Q6: It's June 2019. What does Zappos look like? A6: No idea what Zappos will look like in 2019... Maybe Zappos Airlines or Zappos

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