Bellacor, the Minneapolis-based e-commerce site, appears to have halted operations. The company’s site is down, and, according to a former employee who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, the company has fired its staff. Speaking under similar conditions, several vendors whose products were sold on the site said their line of communication with the company had gone cold, and that it was behind on payments. Multiple requests for comment to Bellacor and its senior leadership team have gone unanswered.

The shutdown was apparently abrupt, and some designers’ orders have been caught up in the closure. After four years as a happy customer of Bellacor, Britney Hubbard stopped hearing from her rep. The Louisiana designer had an open order when two weeks ago text messages, calls and emails suddenly started going unanswered. Hubbard posted a comment on Bellacor’s Instagram page, hoping to get someone’s attention. But she didn’t attract notice from the brand. Instead, other customers soon joined her with a chorus of similar messages: “Hi. Just wondering if you guys have closed down.”

According to a blog post highlighting Bellacor’s charity work, the company started in 2000 as one of the internet’s first online lighting stores. Its selection grew over time to include furniture, decor and rugs—before the site was taken down this week, it included brands like Hooker, Noir and Uttermost in addition to a range of lighting makers.

In 2002, the company acquired a St. Paul, Minnesota–based lighting brand, Creative Lighting, and its local showroom. According to an article in the trade journal Enlightenment, the purchase signaled the company’s shift toward a multichannel sales strategy.

Creative Lighting’s showroom business appears to be active, but when reached by phone, several employees declined to discuss the situation at Bellacor.