Wayfair acquires rest of Australian online retailer Buyster

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, September 20, 2011

BOSTON — Online home goods giant Wayfair, formerly CSN Stores, has acquired complete ownership of Australian online home goods retailer Buyster.com.au.

Wayfair already owned 50% of the company and has purchased the remaining stake from technology investment firm Netus. Terms of the Buyster deal were not disclosed.

Wayfair said Buyster.com.au is a successful e-commerce startup and is positioned well for rapid expansion with Wayfair's expertise, backing and what the company says is the largest online catalog of home goods anywhere.

In June, Wayfair received $165 million in institutional funding.

"In this environment, we see Buyster giving local, selection-seeking consumers of home goods the answer they've been looking for, eliminating the need to tap online outlets outside of Australia for home goods," said Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah. "Buyster already has the largest selection of home goods of any online retailer in Australia. But with our recent buyout and investment plans, we can help grow that product selection exponentially in the next few years, giving Buyster a much larger share of the marketplace.

Buyster offers more than 35,000 items from 600 brands, according to Buyster Managing Director Kylie Little.

Boston-based Wayfair, which expects to pass $500 million in sales by the end of 2011, recently began consolidating its 200-plus sites such as Cookware.com, Luggage.com, Strollers.com and BedroomFurniture.com into one home goods mega-site, Wayfair.com. The company also operates AllModern.com, which caters to people who prefer modern design, and JoshAndMain.com, a flash sale site offering goods at up to 70% off during 72-hour sales.