OK, now we’re really in trouble. According to a message on the Boo.com Web site, the retailer that became THE symbol of dot-com asininity is making a comeback.
“Boo.com is coming back and a new site will be launched in 2006,” says copy on Boo.com next to a graphic of a woman with her index finger over her mouth as if she’s saying “shhhhh.”
The site asks for visitors’ names and e-mail addresses so it can send them updates on when the re-launch will take place.
The ultra-hip online fashion retailer went belly up in May 2000 after operating for six months and reportedly burning through $120 million in venture capital.
In its new incarnation, there is evidence that Boo.com may be making at least one of the same mistakes that led to its demise.
The Christmas shopping season is in full swing and the site has yet to launch. If Boo.com is really going to re-appear in 2006, shouldn’t it have happened by now?
The original Boo.com was also plagued by delays. By the time the site debuted in November 1999, it was already six months late and its founders, CEO Ernst Malmsten and former model Kajsa Leander, were under fire for burning through tens of millions of dollars on publicity.
To make matters worse, what was supposed to be a Web site offering shoppers a cutting-edge fashion shopping experience in seven languages had grave technical problems. The site reportedly locked up and crashed regularly, and some shoppers reportedly couldn’t complete their purchases.
If Boo.com is really coming back, we have one piece of advice: Get out of the stock market. Now.