An article in WWD last week said that LVMH will be closing down the retail operations of eLuxury over the next six months. They are going to make it into an online magazine focusing on the “world of luxury”.

The official reason is “(…) because many of the brands it sells have developed their own online presences“.

According to The luxe chronicles, there might be another reason : Despite having the kind of unprecedented access to some of the most desirable luxury and fashion merchandise in the world and the kind of financial heft and expertise only a luxury empire of LVMH’s magnitude can deploy, they never became the premiere destination for online luxury shopping they were once destined to become.

ELuxury.com began as an online luxury retailer in 2000, offering designer apparel and accessories, beauty and children’s collections from such brands as Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and a Louis Vuitton boutique.

ELuxury.com had sales of $90 million in 2007, a 20% increase from the prior year. Read the full story