Vox bought a fashion site alongside Eater and Curbed — only Racked didn't survive

Racked covered shopping, retail and the fashion industry — Vox Media's fashion vertical, acquired in 2013 as part of the Curbed Network. The other two sites in that deal became their own sustainable brands: Eater for food, Curbed for real estate. Racked did not. According to reporting on the closure, Vox Media had struggled to find 'a considerable voice or growth model' for the site — the same network, the same owner, and one brand that never found its footing.

The last year was turbulent. Editorial director Lockhart Steele was fired in the fall of 2017 for misconduct; editor-in-chief Britt Aboutaleb, hired to take the site 'to the next level,' departed soon after. In February 2018 Vox Media cut about 50 staff, which chief executive Jim Bankoff attributed to a pivot away from video. Through it all, Racked leadership denied the folding rumours — the site insisted 'We're not going anywhere.'

On June 19, 2018, Vox Media announced Racked would go dark in the fall and its coverage would relaunch inside Vox.com as The Goods. Of the site's ten staff, eight moved to the new vertical and two took roles elsewhere in Vox Media; senior reporter Chavie Lieber put it plainly — relaunching 'with a new name and logo under the Vox banner.' The site that had told readers it was going nowhere disappeared into a section of its parent's homepage.