Photo by Donnie Weatherhead
LivingSocial’s footprint in D.C. is about to be a little smaller. At the end of April, LivingSocial will stop producing live events at its six-story events building at 918 F Street NW.
The company took over the 120-year-old refurbished former insurance building in early 2012 to host a variety of events—including concerts, art classes, cooking classes, pop-up restaurants, and more—to help boost its brand beyond the trappings of daily deals and coupons. The news comes after the company reported a net loss of $183 million in 2013, which is a significant improvement from their net loss of $653 million in 2012. On their blog, LivingSocial says their total revenue for 2013 was $399 million, which was a 12 percent decrease from 2012. The company says the decrease in revenue was “due largely to a reduction in customer acquisition spend.”
The company also says they saw approximately $94 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013, which is a three percent increase from the third quarter. The company says that’s due in part to the sale of TicketMonster—its South Korean business unit—as “discontinued operations.” The sale of TicketMonster to Groupon for $260 million was announced in November of last year. It’s all part of the company’s “ongoing strategic corporate initiatives designed to refocus the company on becoming the preferred marketing partner for merchants of all sizes.”
That marketing strategy includes shuttering the 918 F Street venue and ending all live events. “LivingSocial is moving away from areas that are no longer core to our strategy of being a marketing partner for merchants. This includes the few remaining events that we had produced on our own in cities across the U.S. and those at our 918 F Street venue,” John Bax, CFO of LivingSocial, said on the company’s blog. “LivingSocial’s 918 F Street will continue to operate until all scheduled classes have concluded and while no events will be cancelled we will not feature any new events produced by LivingSocial.”
The company spent nearly $4 million to renovate the interior of the building at 918 F Street, and has a lease on the building until January of 2017. The company says they will look for a tenant to take over that lease.
The Post reports that the closing of its 918 F Street facility “will impact 14 full-time and 20 hourly employees.” LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy—who announced earlier this month that he will be stepping down—told the Post that some full-time employees will be reassigned, while others will be let go with severance packages.
“Like most companies, LivingSocial constantly evaluates the growth potential and strategic alignment of all our initiatives. We are clear that we operate most effectively as a marketing partner for third parties. In 2014, we are reinvesting in our customer acquisition and marketing to aggressively target our high value consumers and to build robust tools for our merchant partners,” Bax said. “This is essential to meet our customers’ needs and grow our business.”
