# BirthdayExpress.com > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/BirthdayExpress.com > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/BirthdayExpress.com.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BirthdayExpress.com > Source revision: 1356340606 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **BirthdayExpress.com** was an American [online retailer](/source/E-commerce) based in [New Berlin, Wisconsin](/source/New_Berlin,_Wisconsin), that sold party supplies and decorations specifically for, but not limited to, children's birthdays. It was renamed as CelebrateExpress.com in early 2000s and was acquired by [Liberty Media](/source/Liberty_Media) in 2008. BirthdayExpress.com also powered the party store on the social planning web service [Evite](/source/Evite), which along with BirthdayExpress.com's parent company BuySeasons Inc., which was owned by Rubie's Costume Company. BuySeasons Inc. was also responsible for the related family of retail sites including [BuyCostumes.com](/source/BuyCostumes.com), CostumeExpress.com, CelebrateExpress.com and 1stWishes.com.[citation needed] ## History ### 1990s Birthday Express was founded in [Kirkland, Washington](/source/Kirkland,_Washington) by the team of [Engineering Animation](/source/Engineering_Animation) employee Mike Jewell and his wife, Jan Jewell, in June 1994. The couple, inspired by the birth of their third child, funded the start-up with $1.5 million of their personal savings. Initially, the company operated on a purely mail-order catalog business model before launching its first website in 1996. BirthdayExpress.com was responsible for a third of the company's orders by 1999.[1] After a five-year period that saw a nearly five-fold increase in the number of orders, (from 44,000 in 1995 to 200,000 in 1998), Birthday Express received over $13 million in new investment capital from [ARCH Venture Partners](/source/ARCH_Venture_Partners), [Advanced Technology Ventures](/source/Advanced_Technology_Ventures), and Sigma Partners in 1999. Later that year, CelebrateExpress.com was created for the purpose of selling adult-themed and holiday-focused party products, and Birthday Express expanded its distribution capacity with the leasing of a 32,000 square-foot warehouse in [Greensboro, North Carolina](/source/Greensboro,_North_Carolina).[1] ### 2000s Birthday Express officially changed its name to CelebrateExpress.com in early 2000, and also announced preparations for an [initial public offering](/source/Initial_public_offering) on [NASDAQ](/source/NASDAQ) with the goal of raising $40 million. These preparations were abandoned in August of that year, following the poor performance of public competitors' stocks. CelebrateExpress.com opted to raise funds from other sources, raising $14 million by August 2001.[1] CelebrateExpress.com continued to expand its family of brands by purchasing Storybook Heirlooms in 2001 from Storybook, Inc., a clothing-retailer aimed at pre-teen girls, and by creating Costume Express in 2003. At this time, BirthdayExpress.com was mailing 12 million catalogs annually and receiving 1 million monthly visits.[1] Kevin Green was hired as the CelebrateExpress.com CEO in 2006.[2] In 2008, [Liberty Media](/source/Liberty_Media) purchased CelebrateExpress.com for the purpose of merging it with its own e-commerce subsidiary, BuySeasons, Inc.[3] ### 2010s BirthdayExpress.com, as a part of Liberty Media, became a brand managed on equal footing with Celebrate Express and Costume Express, as well as BuySeasons' [BuyCostumes.com](/source/BuyCostumes.com). In December 2010, Dan Haight replaced Jalem Getz as CEO and President of BuySeasons.[4] He would be later replaced, in turn, by Dev Mukherjee, former SVP and President of [Sears Holdings](/source/Sears_Holdings)’ Home Appliances for stores and online, in 2013.[5] ## Facilities BirthdayExpress.com operated out of a 472,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters in [New Berlin, Wisconsin](/source/New_Berlin,_Wisconsin). The company also operated a satellite facility in [Bothell, Washington](/source/Bothell,_Washington) that employed a creative and product development team. The New Berlin campus housed the core of the company’s professional offices and its call center, as well as its warehouse and distribution/manufacturing center. ## 1stWishes.com 1stWishes.com was a separate retailing brand belonging to BuySeasons that was first created in 2006 to cater specifically to first birthdays.[6] The website was relaunched in 2013 as "1stWishes.com by Birthday Express."[7] ## References 1. Tina Grant (8 July 2005). [*International Directory Of Company Histories*](https://books.google.com/books?id=jwjYAAAAMAAJ). St. James Press. pp. 51–58. ISBN 978-1-55862-545-7. 1. ["Celebrate Express Launches Umbrella Website"](http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/celebrate-express-launches-umbrella-website-01032007/). Multichannel Merchant. 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 1. ["BuySeasons' Parent Firm Acquires Celebrate Express"](http://www.chiefmarketer.com/news/buyseasons-parent-firm-acquires-celebrate-express-03092008). Chief Marketer. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 1. Hajewski, Doris (2010-12-02). ["Buyseasons CEO Getz resigns from costume retailer"](http://www.jsonline.com/business/111195274.html). Jsonline.com. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 1. ["Sears Loses Another Executive From Key Division"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/03/08/report-sears-loses-another-executive-from-key-division/). *Forbes*. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 1. ["Hoover's | A D&B Company"](http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Celebrate_Interactive_Holdings_Inc.fb49579846d5bf94.html). Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 1. San Francisco Chronicle. ["BuySeasons, Inc. Launches New Brand Dedicated to First Birthdays; 1stWishes.com Helps Moms: Offers Personalized Party ... - Worldnews.com"](http://article.wn.com/view/2013/08/21/BuySeasons_Inc_Launches_New_Brand_Dedicated_to_First_Birthda/). Article.wn.com. Retrieved 2014-03-26. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [BirthdayExpress.com](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BirthdayExpress.com) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BirthdayExpress.com?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.