Recently in websites Category

This one slipped by: the mail-order BMG Music Service closed its membership in March. The company would not comment on long-term plans to maintain or shut down the service. Surprisingly, existing members are still receiving information and (ostensibly) making purchases.

BMG was the last remaining music subscription service, having acquired Columbia house in 2005. Parent company Bertelsmann then sold the business to Direct Brands last year. The bmgmusic.com website directs people to a website called yourmusic.com, while columbiahouse.com still appears to be accepting new members.

Online retailer Home Decor Products is closing all nine of its businesses. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Thursday and has begun liquidating assets. Home Decor, which had more than $83 million in sales last year, considered but rejected a Chapter 11 filing that would have kept the business operational.

Home Decor Products' sites, including HomeClick.com, AbsoluteHome.com, Barbecues.com, PoolClick.com, are not accepting orders, and the sites have a variety of messages posted on them, from goodbyes to "temporarily for browsing only" announcements. The corporate web site at HDPI.com has been taken offline.

USA Today has a nice summary of retail closings that gives a bird's-eye view of the crisis. The article includes a sidebar with a full list of store closings (most of which Timely Demise has covered) and a nifty interactive map of empty storefronts.

This one's interesting: La Redoute, a globally distributed women's clothing retailer, is closing its website December 16. The company operates a web-and-catalog business in the United States through Redcats USA. I'm unable to find news about the closing, but the site's home page indicates a final liquidation sale (see screenshot).

Here's the "interesting": La Redoute on a corporate level is refocusing on its Internet business, with a restructuring plan that includes closing 81 outlets and ceasing its mail-order catalog. The company's online focus must not include the US market.