U.S. online wholesale retailer Boxed is exploring strategic options, including a sale or going public through a merger with a blank-check acquisition company that could value it at around $1 billion, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Referred to by some of its customers as Costco for millennials, New York-based Boxed offers everything from fresh groceries to office supplies without membership fees, and also provides free delivery for orders over $49.

Like many e-commerce businesses, it has benefited from a boom in online sales in the United States as consumers stay away from brick-and-mortar stores due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Boxed has seen a steady uptick in new customer signups since March, one of the sources said.

The company has hired investment bank Citigroup Inc to advise on the sale, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the matter is private.

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