Acclaimed Spokane entrepreneur Josh Neblett aims to return to business in the online marketplace, although any major new endeavors likely won’t be based in the Inland Northwest.

Neblett is the co-founder and former CEO of Spokane-based retail and technology company etailz Inc., which was acquired by New York-based TransWorld Entertainment Corp. for $75 million in 2016. Having, as he puts it, "unceremoniously left the company"  in 2019, he currently splits his time between Hawaii and Las Vegas. 

A year before Neblett left the company, the Journal reported etailz had grown to 288 employees with 15 advertised open job positions. Total annual revenue peaked at over $170 million before the company’s meteoric rise began to change trajectory.

As reported in the Journal in late December, Kaspien Holdings Inc., etailz's name after a rebrand that occurred following Neblett's departure, plans to wind down operations and close permanently on May 1.

Now, Neblett, 37, says he’s ready to reboot his entrepreneurial career.

“The itch is back,” he says. “With the company folding, there’s a lot of interesting movement happening in that space.”

After leaving etailz, Neblett was subject to a two-year noncompete agreement, so he took some time to travel.

“I never stayed still for longer than a week or two at a time,” he says. “Two years extended into three years. I was catching up on what I missed in my 20s and making friendships outside of work.”

With the noncompete restrictions now expired, he’s been talking with other players, whom he declines to identify, in the realm of online marketplaces, branding, and retail sales.

“It’s what I spent 12 years doing,” he says. “It’s about time to get back on the horse.”

Neblett says he wasn’t surprised upon learning of Kaspien's plans to shut down. “That writing was on the wall for quite some time,” he says.

Except for keeping in touch with certain employees “making sure they were taken care of and doing well,” Neblett says he tried to remain distanced from Kaspien.

“I had to disconnect from the business, so I wasn’t plugged in,” he says. “I was too emotionally attached. It’s certainly sad, but not surprising.”

Neblett says he thinks he can start over and capitalize on earlier successes.

“All entrepreneurs are a little delusional. That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he says. “I’m confident in my skills and abilities.”

He says he expects to rely on his experiences overcoming the challenges of starting and growing a business to carry into his next venture and help prevent him from repeating mistakes.

“I’m excited about going through this again and being able to leverage some of those things,” he adds.

While Neblett, who grew up in the Seattle area and holds an MBA from Gonzaga University, always championed Spokane when he led etailz, he says his next venture probably won’t be launched from here.

“The things I have in the works aren’t based out of Spokane,” he says. “The partners and people I’ve been meeting with are big players in their space. Tapping into their resources will be more beneficial.”

He doesn’t rule out a return to business in the Spokane area entirely, however. “Never say never,” he says. “I love Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. I love the people. I love the community.”

Neblett does still visit Spokane. His parents are in the Lilac City, and he says he tries to come up in the summer months.

He has also kept in contact with his mentor Tom Simpson, a Spokane entrepreneur and angel investor, who helped refine the business concept for etailz, originally named Green Cupboards, after the idea had won a business plan competition while Neblett was a student at Gonzaga.

“We stay in touch on various topics and opportunities,” he says of Simpson, who currently is the president and CEO of Ignite Northwest. “His guidance and mentorship in the early days was invaluable.”

Neblett and Sarah Wollnick, who were a couple and are now divorced, and Simpson co-founded Green Cupboards in 2008.

While the company initially was a conventional online retailer specializing in eco-friendly household products, it evolved into selling thousands of products directly through Amazon, Walmart, and other online marketplaces, as well as providing products and services to help hundreds of suppliers with their online sales strategies.

Etailz had been cited often as one of the Spokane area’s most successful startups, having been listed on the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies for several consecutive years beginning in 2012.

During Neblett’s 12-year run with the company, he had been recognized with several awards, including Seattle Business Magazine’s Executive Excellence Award and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year.