After a decade of success, Birchbox began to feel the weight of the changing beauty world. After some issues in 2016 — per Modern Retail, they had a round of layoffs that year — the company partnered with Walgreens for what seemed like a lifeline to get their business model back on track. Unfortunately, as with many businesses, the pandemic threw a wrench in their climb back to the top. In 2020, they laid off 25 percent of their staff and a year later, they were officially bought by FemTech Health, a new healthcare startup, per Beauty Matter.
This merger with FemTech meant a decent cash flow into Birchbox, but it also meant that co-founder and CEO, Katia Beauchamp, would sell her majority in the company and leave her post as CEO, simply becoming an advisor. Unfortunately, a year later, things seem grim. According to Women's Wear Daily, FemTech executives sent out a letter to all Birchbox creditors to let them know that the company may be filing for bankruptcy, possibly a "Chapter 11 or equivalent structure." They encouraged creditors to instead put shares into FemTech.
In a recent Instagram post, Birchbox posted a message to their customers making it known that they understand the frustrations they may be facing during the company's struggles. And while the sentiment seemed genuine, many customers came firing back in the comments saying that this message comes way too late to keep their loyalty to the company.
