Flash Sale Site Vente-privee To Shut Down US Operations

Flash Sale site Vente-Privee USA is making its exit according to a recent report by Fortune. The company which is a joint venture between American Express and flash sales pioneer Vente-Privee France is said to shut down its US operations by the end of 2014.

American Express released a statement saying “Both companies decided that given the road to profitability … it was time to focus on other priorities,”. Vente-privee USA will continue to operate and fulfill on its sales events and customer orders through the end of the year and will maintain a high quality of service to its brand partners and members".

The decision for the closing comes as a surprise since Vente-Privee's CEO Jacques-Antoine Granjon had told Fortune last month that the US market was a goldmine to be tapped and that he expected current sales of 50 million doubling to 100 million. It is now believed that lack of proper management and constant tension between American Express and Vente-Privée could be one of the reasons for the closing. Fortune reports that between late 2012 and January 2014, the entire original Vente-Privée USA management team left.

Sources believe that the brand was not growing and that it was only a matter of time before it decided to pull out of the U.S. entirely by the end of the year.