Former Agenda Co-Owner Seth Haber Named CEO of Karmaloop
Karmaloop, which has emerged from bankruptcy with a new owner, now has a new chief executive: Seth Haber, who co-owned the Agenda trade show until its sale to Reed in 2012, starts as CEO immediately. He replaces Karmaloop founder and CEO Greg Selkoe.
“Karmaloop has a truly amazing and loyal customer base and I look forward to leading the company to a strong future,” said Haber in a statement. “I’ve been in this business for a long time and I have worked with most, if not all, of Karmaloop’s key business partners. I know that we can continue to build on what the company has already done to take it to the next level.”
“We conducted an extensive CEO search and found a number of highly qualified candidates interested in leading Karmaloop,” added Comvest partner Robert O’Sullivan, one of the new owners. “Throughout the process, Seth distinguished himself as our number one choice. His passion for the streetwear culture, varied experience in the industry and achievement in building Agenda made him a natural fit for the position. We feel very lucky to have found Seth, and even more fortunate that we were able to convince him that this is a unique opportunity to restore Karmaloop to its roots. Because of our confidence in Seth, we are investing significant capital to support his vision and ensure the company is able to deliver the kind of customer experience that will lead to success.”
The e-commerce streetwear retailer announced a restructuring as a part of a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in March and Kanye West and Damon Dash said they intended to buy the company.
That didn’t happen. A week ago, a federal bankruptcy court judge gave the green light to a $13 million sale of the company to a group that includes Florida-based Comvest Capital and Chicago-based CapX Partners. No other bids actually came in, according to the Boston Globe. The sale should close by the end of June.
Boston-based Karmaloop Inc. operates Karmaloop.com, a Europe-based e-commerce site called StreetAmmo, a members-only flash sale site called PLNDR.com and an online marketplace called Kazbah.
