Popular Online Retailer Stops Operations

Students plagued by late-night hunger can no longer count on the Kozmo.com couriers to be their knights in orange plastic armor.

The online retailer and delivery service shut down its website on Wednesday and stopped answering all phone calls at the Kozmo headquarters.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Kozmo was permanently discontinuing operations. The article said Kozmo had plans to dismiss its 1,100 workers immediately, although some will receive severance packages.

"Given more time and more hospitable market conditions, Kozmo would have succeeded in rounding the corner and would have continued to grow," Gerry Burdo, president and chief executive of Kozmo told the Associated Press.

Director of communications Stephanie Cohen Glass said Kozmo has not gone bankrupt, but it has begun the process of liquidating its assets in order to pay creditors.

Kozmo has been earning its place in the hearts of Harvard students since it first appeared in the Cambridge area in October 1999 by providing food, video rentals and retail items to customers' doors in less than an hour. Students who used the service to rent videos could return the cassettes at drop boxes located in businesses throughout Harvard Square, such as Toscanini's, Starbucks and The Wrap.

Kozmo saved many students both time and energy, and most say they are disappointed by its closing.

"I didn't know Kozmo shut down!" said Lily E. Fink `03 upon hearing the news. "I use it all the time."

Fink said she and her Quincy House roommates relied on Kozmo for renting movies and satisfying midnight ice cream cravings.

With the loss of Kozmo, students may once again be forced to brave the snow and biting wind of Boston's frigid winters in order to get their snacks, movies and other essential items.

But there is one group that may stand to benefit from Kozmo's demise. Without Kozmo, Harvard Square establishments will have one fewer competitor for students' late night business. Local video and convenience stores may see the biggest increase in sales as a result of Kozmo's close.

Kozmo was founded in 1997 by former Goldman Sachs associates Joseph Park and Yong Kang, and opened its first operation in New York. As of last week, the company had grown to offer services in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.