Walmart is acquiring the world's largest online seller of art

Walmart

Art.com sells art, but online.

• Walmart announced on Thursday that it plans to acquire the world's largest seller of art online, Art.com.
• The news was announced in a blog post, and the deal is set to close early next year. The deal price was not disclosed.
• Art.com will continue to operate as a standalone site and will complement Walmart's existing portfolio of digital companies.

Walmart is getting its art on.

The company announced on Thursday that it plans to acquire Art.com, which it says is the world's largest seller of artwork online.

Walmart will acquire the entire company - catalog, intellectual property, trade name, and all of its US-based operations - for a price it did not disclose. The deal will close early next year, it said.

Walmart says it will continue to operate Art.com as a standalone site, complementing the rest of its growing online portfolio, which now includes Jet.com, Bonobos, Modcloth, Eloquii, Moosejaw, Hayneedle, and Bare Necessities. The company will eventually sell Art.com products on Walmart.com, Jet.com, and Hayneedle.com.

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Art.com will slot in where the rest of Walmart.com's current assortment for the home stops: the wall.

"A big factor in creating that space starts with the wall," Anthony Soohoo, head of US Walmart e-commerce for the home category, said in the blog post announcing the acquisition. "When decorating, redecorating, or even just infusing some new life into a room - many times the best and lowest-priced place to start is by hanging a piece of art on the wall."

Walmart has been on something of a buying streak lately, adding companies born online to its growing portfolio. Many of these companies are focused on the higher end of offerings, as it moves to court the higher-earning customers who like to shop online - and mostly do so with Amazon.