Hollar

About Hollar

Hollar carved a niche in the e-commerce landscape by conceptualizing and launching an online dollar store. The company was established in Santa Monica, California in 2015 by a team of co-founders including David Yeom, who served as CEO, John Um, Eddie Rhyu, Thanh Khuu, and Brian Lee. The founding team possessed a blend of e-commerce and retail experience; Yeom previously held a vice president role at The Honest Company, a venture co-founded by Lee, who also co-founded ShoeDazzle and LegalZoom. Um brought direct industry insight, having been a strategist for the 99 Cents Only Stores. The idea for Hollar was born from Yeom's nostalgic childhood experiences in dollar stores and a realization that this thriving brick-and-mortar sector lacked a significant online retail presence.

The business operated as a mobile-first e-commerce platform, accessible via its website and dedicated iOS and Android applications, targeting the 'extreme-value' segment. Hollar's primary clientele consisted of millennial mothers and budget-conscious shoppers, particularly in Middle America, a demographic the founders felt was underserved by the tech industry. The company's revenue model was based on direct-to-consumer sales of low-priced goods. To ensure profitability against the challenge of shipping low-cost items, Hollar instituted a minimum order value of $10 and offered free shipping for orders over $25. This strategy proved effective, with the average order value holding steady at approximately $30, significantly higher than the typical in-store purchase at traditional dollar stores.

Hollar's product catalog included tens of thousands of items across diverse categories like toys, home goods, beauty products, electronics, and apparel, with most products priced between $2 and $5. The platform stocked both recognized brands and its own private-label goods, aiming to replicate the 'treasure hunt' discovery experience of a physical dollar store online. The company experienced rapid initial growth, reaching its first million-dollar sales month just five months after its November 2015 launch. This trajectory attracted substantial venture capital, with the company raising a total of $77.6 million over five funding rounds from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Despite its early success, Hollar eventually faced challenges with the unit economics of shipping low-cost items and began seeking a buyer in late 2019. In early 2020, select assets of Hollar, including its e-commerce platform and fulfillment operations, were acquired by the high-growth value retailer Five Below. Following the acquisition, Hollar ceased operations as an independent entity.