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Analysis: How Nasty Gal Went From an $85 Million Company to Bankruptcy

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The rapid rise and fall of Nasty Gal Inc., an online retailer once popular with millennial shoppers and venture capitalists, is culminating in a bankruptcy sale to a rival, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In less than a decade, Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso transformed an eBay vintage store into a company that generated $85 million in revenue for the 2014 fiscal year. But the Los Angeles company’s swift growth led to stumbles. Leadership turnover and poor communication hurt its bottom line, according to interviews with 10 former employees. Some described the company culture as becoming “toxic,” referring to turbulence in recent years including several rounds of layoffs. The turmoil culminated in a November bankruptcy filing, with Nasty Gal preparing to sell its brand name and other intellectual property for $20 million to a rival fashion site, the U.K.’s Boohoo.com.