The Popular Shoe Retailer That's Actually Owned By Amazon

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Amazon owns a lot of things. The e-commerce giant bought the entire Whole Foods grocery chain in 2017, and owns enough land and property to support well over 1,300 fulfillment and distribution facilities. Plus, the company over 30,000 branded delivery vans help Americans spend a staggering amount on Amazon per month, in addition to an entire satellite network. However, one of Amazon's lesser-known purchases is actually a fellow online retailer: Zappos. Established in the late 1990s, Zappos began selling shoes online at a time when that concept was still foreign to consumers and investors alike. Originally called Shoesite, the company was picked up by soon-to-be-CEO Tony Hsieh's small venture capital firm, and rebranded to Zappos.

Amazon wasn't the first major corporation to get involved with the company — Wells Fargo had actually provided Zappos a loan in the early 2000s while it was remodeling its business practices — but the conglomerate officially got its hands on the online retailer in 2009. Amazon paid Zappos $40 million in cash alongside 10 million shares of its stock, and additional restricted stock units, for the merger. At the time, that equated to a value of over $800 million — a figure that quickly grew to around $1.2 billion as Amazon's stock prices continued to rise. While buying certain shoe brands on Amazon can cost you significantly, you might be able to find a better deal via Amazon-adjacent Zappos.

Long before the 2009 merger, Zappos had developed a unique and attentive customer service model that they were not willing to compromise on. As such, at the time of the merger, representatives from both parties stated that preserving this ethos was a top priority. As Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh said in a press release at the time (via SEC), "We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other's strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors. We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way."

The way Zappos tells it, not much has changed in that regard since the company was acquired. Looking at the Zappos website, there's hardly a trace of Amazon's influence at all. The same core values the company established years ahead of its merger are still proudly displayed, and Hsieh stuck around as CEO for another 11 years (eventually retiring in 2020). Of course, things might not stay rosy for Zappos or Amazon in the future given Jeff Bezos' accurate, if dark, prediction about the U.S. economy.