Overstock.com is an American online retailer founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1999 by Patrick Byrne, who recognized the potential of selling excess inventory through the Internet.[1] The company’s visual identity has undergone several notable changes, including a short-lived rebrand to O.co in 2011 and a corporate transition to Beyond, Inc. in 2023, before the Overstock brand was relaunched in 2024.
Design and History
Overstock.com’s most recognizable logo mark is a stylized “O” silhouette contrasted against a red background. The company registered this design as a trademark with the USPTO, claiming red as a feature of the mark and describing it as “the silhouette of an ‘O’ contrasted with a red background.”[2] The company also registered the wordmark “OVERSTOCK.COM – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE O,” reflecting the emphasis placed on the letter “O” in its branding.[3]
In early 2011, Overstock.com announced a rebranding effort to shorten its name to O.co, aiming to reflect its growing merchandise line and better position the brand for global growth. Company president Jonathan Johnson told AdAge that 70 percent of the company’s merchandise at the time was no longer overstock merchandise but primarily “first-run replenishable goods.”[4] The new O.co logo appeared on the company’s retail website and on the O.co Coliseum in California in June 2011.[4]
The O.co rebrand did not last. By November 2011, Overstock.com retreated from the name change, resurrecting its old Overstock.com brand for its website and ads following customer confusion.[5] Johnson said at the time that customers were confused by the O.co name, and the company backed off the multimillion-dollar rebranding effort.[6]
In June 2023, Overstock.com acquired the Bed Bath & Beyond brand and associated intellectual property in a bankruptcy auction for $21.5 million. The company rebranded its consumer website as Bed Bath & Beyond on August 1, 2023.[7] On November 6, 2023, the corporate parent changed its name to Beyond, Inc., while continuing to operate its e-commerce business under the Bed Bath & Beyond brand.[7]
On March 28, 2024, Beyond, Inc. relaunched the Overstock.com brand name, positioning it in a higher market segment than Bed Bath & Beyond by targeting larger purchases and higher-income consumers.[8] A new Overstock logo was introduced with the relaunch.[9]
Meaning and Symbolism
The company’s advertising referenced “the O” as early as 2004, when its television commercials used the tagline “It’s all about the O.”[4] This tagline was later formalized in the registered trademark “OVERSTOCK.COM – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE O.”[3] The O.co rebrand was motivated in part by the belief that the shortened name and globally acceptable web address would better position the company for international growth.[4]
Typography and Design
Brand asset databases indicate that the Overstock brand mark uses a red color commonly identified as “Overstock Red,” paired with a black logotype, with the preferred version of the logo appearing on a white background.[10] The registered “O” trademark consists of the silhouette of an “O” contrasted with a red background, with red claimed as a feature of the mark.[2]
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