Who Owns Zappos?

Zappos's headquarters in downtown Las Vegas received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The company renovated the former Las Vegas City Hall, a 300,000-square-foot building from 1973, rather than demolishing and rebuilding. This decision reduced construction waste and embodied carbon emissions.

The headquarters includes energy-efficient HVAC systems, LED lighting, and water conservation measures appropriate for the Mojave Desert environment. The building received six LEED credits in the water category. Zappos has an employee-driven sustainability team called L.E.A.F. that promotes environmental awareness within the company.

Zappos benefits from Amazon's broader sustainability commitments. Amazon has committed to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040 through The Climate Pledge, which was co-founded by Amazon in 2019. Amazon aims to power all operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 and has ordered 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian.

The ethical questions around Zappos are less about environmental impact and more about labor and culture. Since the Amazon acquisition, Zappos has experienced significant layoffs and workforce reduction. Employee reviews describe a shift from the culture that Tony Hsieh built to a more standard corporate environment under Amazon's influence. The company has outsourced some customer service operations, which has drawn criticism from former employees.

• Zappos debuted at number 23 on Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list in 2009, the year of the Amazon acquisition.
• Zappos has won multiple Customer Service Team Awards in retail, recognizing its customer service teams and issue resolution.
• Zappos is consistently cited as a benchmark for customer experience (CX) by industry analysts and consulting firms.
• The company's headquarters received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
• Zappos's approach to company culture has been studied as a case study at Harvard Business School and IMD business school.

Post-acquisition culture erosion. Since Amazon acquired Zappos in 2009, employees and observers have noted a gradual erosion of the company's distinctive culture. Tony Hsieh's death in November 2020 accelerated this trend. Employee reviews on Indeed describe layoffs, outsourcing of customer service, and a shift toward standard Amazon corporate practices. Zappos has not publicly addressed these cultural concerns in a formal way, and the trend appears to be continuing.

Workforce reductions. Zappos has reduced its workforce from over 1,500 employees at peak to approximately 484 as of 2025. The most recent reductions align with Amazon's broader layoff strategy, which eliminated 30,000 corporate jobs between October 2025 and January 2026. Zappos-specific layoff numbers have not been disclosed. Affected employees received severance packages, according to Indeed reviews.

Customer service quality concerns. Some customers have reported a decline in Zappos's customer service quality since the Amazon acquisition. Reddit threads and Trustpilot reviews cite longer response times and less personalized service. Zappos continues to offer free shipping, free returns, and a 365-day return policy, which remains among the most generous in online retail. No formal response has been issued regarding specific service complaints.

Revenue decline. Zappos's revenue has fallen from over $2 billion in the mid-2010s to approximately $1.07 billion in 2025. Amazon does not disclose Zappos revenue separately, so this figure is an estimate from ECDB and IncFact. The decline reflects competition from Amazon's own fashion offerings, direct-to-consumer brands, and changing consumer shopping habits. No specific restructuring plan for Zappos has been publicly announced.