If you've had a chance to take take a peek at our Core Values, toured our Offices or Warehouse, or seen any of our Videos, you already know Zappos is unlike any other company. We filmed this video to show to our New Hire groups when Tony, Fred and Alfred are out of the office. Although I wish it was used more, I'm happy to say that Alfred, Tony and Fred have yet to miss an opportunity to talk to a new hire class since the video was made more than 6 months ago!

KY Content sponsored the Safety Core Value activity in July with hosting the first Safety Idol at the Kentucky location. The focus was to incorporate fun and a little weirdness, and increase the awareness of safety in the fulfillment center.
To enter the contest, teams of up to four employees, were faced with the challenge of putting safety topics in the flow of a rap…...which had to include the word HOOPLA!

HOOPLA is:
H - Healthy work habits equal Healthy Employees!

O - Observing the Core Values!

O - Organization that empowers individuals to be an active part of Safety!

P - Personal Protective Equipment!

L - Learning about Safety is Fun!

A - Awareness is the key to Success!

With a unanimous vote, Andrew Kim, Jimmy Music and Nick Catt, won the Safety Idol and also appeared live and presented their new hit single HOOPLA at the all hands meeting in July. The room rocked and gave a standing ovation at the completion of the rap performance, which was the opening act for Tony, Alfred and Fred to then address the group.

Way to go, Fellas!


written by: Leah Morris

The Kentucky warehouse closed down completely for 2 hours on Wednesday June 24th, 2009, which is almost unheard of in Zappos-Land! Everyone gathered in Sheperdsville, KY for the the 10th Anniversary All Hands Meeting.

One of the hightlights of the meeting was the Time Capsule that was created especially for Zappos. All the departments brought a box filled with treasures to place in the huge metal box.

We watched a documentary created by the video department of team members sharing their stories on how Zappos.com has grown in such a short time. We had food and drinks for all, along with a performance of the winning “Spirit Week” cheer performed by the Photo Department.

All team members were paid to attend this meeting! What? Yep! Paid to party!
THE MOST AWESOME PLACE TO WORK!



written by: Rhonda F.
photographs by: Ashley P.

Pat has been told many times by Brett that he has "an abnormally sized watermelon head" and that his head "looks like an orange on a toothpick," and Pat is tired of the abuse. Tony believes that it's actually an illusion and he is going to prove it with a handy dandy headphone wire.

The Zappos.com Fulfillment Center was recently honored for excellence at the Best Places to Work in Kentucky awards dinner! Thirty of our managers attended the awards ceremony in Lexington, KY where they anxiously awaited the ranking results. The award is based on an assessment of our employee policies and the results of the internal employee survey. Zappos.com was recognized as #22 on the list of best places to work in the “large companies” category. Hundreds of companies in Kentucky are assessed annually to compete for this honor and we’re very humbled to be on the list! It is because of our employees’ determination to drive our culture that we are truly one of the Best Places to Work in Kentucky!

written by: Melissa L.
photos by: Michele K. and Betsy D.

When Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh travels, his Twitter following is never far behind. Especially this week when Tony was in the great city of New York speaking at the Twitter Boot Camp and the 140 Characters conferences on Monday and Tuesday. Brett and Melissa from the Zappos Blogs team followed along to a Tweetup sponsored by Zappos at the Hudson Hotel on Monday evening, and it was a fine time, indeed! We had a great selection of our Twitter friends show up and dance the night away.
Here is a little introduction to everyone!

Cinderella’s motto was: ”One shoe can change your life.” The Sisters’ motto is: “One shoe store has changed our lives!” Discovering Zappos.com years ago has been the “land of dreams come true” for two Southern sisters with feet as difficult to fit as Cinderella’s! (Think size 5.5 and 6N…) The added bonus of seeing hundreds of shoes from every conceivable angle without leaving the comfort of our homes can only be topped by Zappos saving the best surprises for last: free shipping both ways and delivery the next business day. Can you say INSTANT gratification?

The real reason for this note is to thank the “team members” in charge of shipping and receiving who spend their days inside the Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Zappos facility. My sister’s birthday present to herself and a sister surprise for me was a visit to Zappos in May 2009. This was a true fantasy adventure loaded with perks.

Prior to our flight to Louisville, while selecting magazines at the airport, Sissy found one with an article about Zappos and their CEO, Tony Hsieh. At that point, I had no idea of the significance of ‘the find’ except that we both love Zappos! Just before boarding, Sissy gave me the itinerary of our adventure for the day and many screams later, we arrived in Louisville. A quick twenty minute drive had us at the front door of the shipping/receiving/outlet of Zappos. Ever wonder how your shoes magically arrive the next day? Hmmm… Louisville is the hub for UPS.

On arrival, the plasma screen in the lobby was flashing a “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” greeting to my sister Alicia. That was cool enough, but was only the beginning of a wild afternoon with the Zappos team members. Sissy asked everyone who materialized in the lobby to sign her magazine while we awaited Stefanie, the representative who created this magical event. Her energy came through the door before she did and we seemed to hit warp speed as she ushered us through the security “phone booth” and into the Internet Café where team members were yelling “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”; waving pom-poms and directing our attention to a birthday cake, crown & huge Zappos bags filled with goodies for us. After much singing, signing (the magazine) and cake eating, we were introduced to the elusive, Craig A.. He even offered to take Sissy’s magazine to Las Vegas and ask Tony Hsieh to autograph it for her!

Then, it was tour time with Byron and Julie. As a member of the photo department, Julie creates many of the incredible photo shots of clothing, shoes and other items found on the website. Nine shots of each shoe in every color, any way you do the math, that’s a lot of shots! She had been asked to create a photo journal of our visit and as an aside, to answer all my questions. Believe it or not, as we passed through the photo department we interrupted a staff meeting (where someone was wearing a pirate hat and parrot) and folks stopped the chatter to yell, “Happy Birthday”.

Byron was the enthusiastic tour leader who was educating and entertaining us about how each area of the facility functions. At several locations, Sissy was encouraged by Byron to test her skills in the multiple roles of Zappos’ team members. Her favorite job was that of “picker”. She loved the idea of being paid to walk up to 14 miles per day. If you thought that the products that you order get to you by an automated method; think again. Real people pull, pack and ship those babies! Being a nerd, I was fascinated by the “Kivas”, the robots of Zappos. There are 70 of these little orange critters scurrying from station to station in a room the size of a university football stadium and each one has its own name, courtesy of members with senior status.

Following our personalized tour, we had time to visit the outlet store where Sissy was especially taken with a pair of Marc Jacobs denim heels with zippers and bling. I couldn’t get over a pair of “clear” mules (think ‘glass slippers’) with 5 inch heels. Meanwhile, dear Julie was snapping away and laughing as we tried on the most outrageous, the most expensive, the most beautiful and even a few conservative pairs. If I had more grace while hobbling across the floor, I would have come home with RED stilettos!

Customer service really does give Zappos the edge; every member we met had energy, enthusiasm and devotion, not only for Zappos, but for their colleagues. We would love to meet Tony! Then we could thank him for encouraging his team members to exceed the customer’s expectations in any and every way possible. The folks in Shepherdsville earned our respect and gratitude. Stefanie, thank you, thank you, thank you for creating an experience that certainly qualifies as “the adventure of our year” and a birthday extravaganza that no one can top! Overall, it was a fantasy come true where our every thought was anticipated and fulfilled. Customer service exceeded excellence.

And yes, we called and e-mailed everyone we knew about our visit as soon as we got home that evening.

Totally devoted to Zappos…Valerie & Alicia (the birthday girl)
P.S. You must have a reservation to tour the facility.



Written by: Valerie O. and Alicia L.

Today, Monday June 1st, is fine day for all Zapponians in the Henderson, NV office....it is the 2nd Annual All Hands meeting! This is a meeting in which all 700 Las Vegas Zappos employees get together and hear from our CEO, Tony Hsieh, and COO, Alfred Lin, about where we going, where we been...Did I do another Forrest Gump reference? Brett, you must stop that!!!!

We will actually shut the CLT phones down (which only happens twice a year) for 2 hours while we all make the pilgrimage on foot to the Henderson Pavilion for the two hour 'All Hands on Deck' meeting. The blog team is acting as camera crew today, catching the presentations and a few other secret bits that I have been sworn to secrecy about: )

We love getting together as a group, so whatever happens on that huge stage today, we know that our Zappos family will go crazy and have the time of their lives!

YeeHaw, I say, YeeHaw!!!

Sort of like a 'very special episode' on an 80s sitcom when a special guest stops by, our CEO, Tony Hsieh, stopped by our Product Video Department while attending the Kentucky Vendor Fair at the KY Fulfillment Center.

Over drinks and Karaoke at a Zappos Customer Loyalty Happy Hour, we discuss what CLT means to us.

Around Christmas 2008, we had this story come through our Customer Loyalty Department.

Jeanette called on December 22 to order some Ugg boots for her close friend, who had just lost all of her and her family's belongings in a house fire. She had explained to the Customer Loyalty Representative that she was very happy she found these boots in stock, as it was the one thing her friend's child really wanted for Christmas. She was really floored when the rep offered to upgrade the shipping free of charge so the boots would get there overnight. Her friend called her the next day and was very happy with the gift.

Jeanette then left to go to Florida. Once there, she received a call from her friend who was in complete shock because of an additional Zappos Box that showed up on her doorstep.

Inside was a culture book signed by the call center, Zappos t-shirts, bags, a Zappos monopoly game and a gift card for shoes. Her friend's children were thrilled.

So, Jeanette decided to make this video to show her appreciation.

While Tony was in "The Big Apple" he met up with the founder of Meetup.com for a tour around their headquarters and to challenge whomever is daring enough in a razor scooter competition. Tony has obviously been practicing.

Oh...and did I mention that Tony is now a cartoon? Check it out.

Tony visits the office where most things handmade are sold on the internet - Etsy.com in Brooklyn, NY. Arts and crafts time anyone?

Our CEO Tony Hsieh gets around - around the globe, that is - and there's no telling where he'll be next. Tony is so busy flying around, speaking at conferences and meeting with other cool companies that Twitter has a hard time keeping up with all of his @zappos updates, and honestly, Twitpics just don't give a visit to the White House any justice.

So, we decided that the only way to truly know where Tony is at any moment in time was to hook him up with a tracking device and to set up hidden cameras around his cubicle and implant a micro camera in his forehead.

However, due to the economy being down and the fear of being let go or having a restraining order placed against the Zappos Blog Team, we decided to do more with less and settled with just giving him a Flip camera to carry around with him everywhere he goes.

So, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for (drum roll) Where's Tony!

The speed walking event for this year's Corporate Challenge was a lot more popular than we thought it would be. So, in order to decide who gets to represent Zappos at the speed walking event, we held a walk off. Our first group of walkers fighting for the spot in their age group really weren't bringing the heat, but when husband and wife duo, Rebecca and Alfred started their time trial they cranked the competition up to an 11 - an 11 minute mile that is.