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Originally founded by Michael Rubin in 1995 as Global Sports Incorporated, the company focused on selling sporting goods and supplies. In 1999 it branched out into clothing and a variety of other categories and changed its name to GSI Commerce in 2002. Toys "R" Us, one of GSI's largest e-commerce partners, chose GSI after suing Amazon.com for breach of its exclusivity contract. In October 2000, GSI acquired FogDog.com, an online sporting goods store. In August 2007, GSI acquired Accretive e-Commerce, a company with a similar business model, for $97.5 million. In 2008 it was announced that Innotrac, a similar e-commerce company with fulfillment centers located throughout the United States, would be acquired however the deal was canceled in January 2009. The company acquired e-Dialog in 2008; as well as Rue La La and Smartbargains.com in 2009. It launched ShopRunner.com in October 2010 to compete directly with Amazon Prime. In September 2008, GSI and Timberland reached a settlement of up to $7,000,000 with a class of cell phone subscribers who alleged that they received unsolicited SMS text messages advertising for Timberland. Both Timberland and GSI have denied any wrongful conduct and state that a completely separate and independent company was responsible for securing the consents of the class members to receive the text messages. The settlement is significant as it is the first nationwide settlement for unsolicited text messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. On March 21, 2010, the company and its CEO, Michael Rubin, were featured on the CBS television series Undercover Boss. |
