Kentucky

Amazon Seeks Greater Fulfillment by Adding Distribution Centers

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on July 7, 2011 at 2:53 pm PT

Amazon is expanding its warehouse capacity at an insanely aggressive pace, having already announced five new distribution centers so far this year, including two since yesterday.

Gilt Groupe Leans on Mixture of Equity and Debt to Fund Growth

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 15, 2010 at 3:55 pm PT

Gilt Groupe has secured about $15 million in a line of credit, which we’ve learned was primarily used for building out a new warehouse in Louisville, Ky.

Exclusive: Chegg Raises $75 Million in Additional Funding from Asian Firm

Kara Swisher in News on September 26, 2010 at 8:55 pm PT

Chegg, the online textbook rental service, has raised another $75 million from Asia-based Ace Limited, according to sources. Ace seems to be nonexistent on the Internet, although sources said it is a Hong Kong-based investment firm. The round comes after a huge Series D investment in late 2009, which already brought Chegg’s funding to a whopping $144 million.

Chegg's Dan Rosensweig Talks About the Next Wave of Online Textbook Rentals and More!

Kara Swisher in News on August 19, 2010 at 12:58 pm PT

Earlier this week, BoomTown went down to Santa Clara, Calif. to the offices of Chegg, the online textbook rental leader, to pay a visit on longtime Silicon Valley exec Dan Rosensweig. Today, in a bid to expand its offerings beyond books, Chegg said it had acquired Courserank, a Mountain View, Calif. start-up that helps students “share their course schedule, take classes with their friends, read and write reviews on classes and professors as well as find out how professors grade.” Here’s the video.

Exclusive: Facebook Will Announce 500 Million Users Next Week With "Facebook Stories"

Kara Swisher in News on July 16, 2010 at 5:17 pm PT

Facebook expects to announce its 500-millionth user next week, and will mark the occasion with a new consumer marketing initiative called “Facebook Stories.” Last week, BoomTown got wind of the effort–which will center on a variety of life stories from users about the impact of the social networking site on their lives–and asked Facebook about it. The company confirmed its impending launch and put Randi Zuckerberg on the horn to tell me the story behind “Stories.”

Microsoft Comms Head Smacks Back by the Numbers (Plus a "Rocky"-Inspired Internal Email!)

Kara Swisher in News on June 25, 2010 at 1:33 pm PT

After what he considered weeks of unfair press coverage and running down of Microsoft, the software giant’s Corporate VP of Corporate Communications, Frank Shaw, posted a pugnacious corporate blog today that trotted out some impressive numbers about Microsoft’s business. Of course, he also took the opportunity to put up some not-so-much figures about competitors such as Apple, Netflix, Salesforce.com and, of course, Google. And this comes after a fists-swinging email to staff!

iPhone 3GS–The S Is for "Shortage"

John Paczkowski in News on June 29, 2009 at 7:27 am PT

The iPhone 3GS has been on the market just 10 days now, and already a growing number of Apple stores around the country are running short of the device. It seems that demand for the 3GS, which topped one million units sold its first weekend at market, has exceeded even the company’s presumably aggressive targets.

iPhone 3GS–The S Is for “Shortage”

John Paczkowski in News on June 29, 2009 at 7:27 am PT

The iPhone 3GS has been on the market just 10 days now, and already a growing number of Apple stores around the country are running short of the device. It seems that demand for the 3GS, which topped one million units sold its first weekend at market, has exceeded even the company’s presumably aggressive targets.

Would Microsoft's New Search Name Smell as Sweet if It Were Named After a Cherry or a Soprano?

Kara Swisher in News on April 21, 2009 at 11:03 am PT

What’s in a name? Well, a lot, actually, and BoomTown supposes it would be just like those Pacific Northwest types at Microsoft to name the new version of its search service “Bing,” presumably after the cherry that is a big product in the company’s home state. That moniker is one of many being bandied about in a group the software giant could be considering for the big relaunch of its search service, which it has been prepping. But Microsoft should forget the fruity metaphor, also rename its MSN online service “Bada” and use this motto: “Bada Bing, Bada Boom, Notta Bada Algorithm!”