In November 2023, TYME customers opened an email with a blunt subject line: “we are going out of business.” For anyone who owned a TYME Iron or followed the brand, that felt final. But the full story is more complicated than that email suggested.
This article covers who TYME is, what the closure announcement actually said, why the founder was forced to close, what changed with new ownership, and what customers need to know right now.
First, Make Sure We’re Talking About the Right “Tyme”
Before getting into the details, it helps to clear up a naming issue. Searches for “Tyme going out of business” return mixed results that can send you in the wrong direction.
This article is about TYME Style — the beauty tools and haircare brand found at tymestyle.com. TYME is best known for the TYME Iron, a combined straightener and curling tool that built a strong following over more than a decade.
TYME Style has nothing to do with Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, a grocery chain that has closed some of its store locations. There are also other food and beverage businesses with similar names that have announced closures. None of those are connected to the hair tools brand discussed here.
If you landed on this article because you saw closure news about a grocery store or a local café with a similar name, that’s a different story entirely.
The November 2023 Closure Announcement
On November 2, 2023, TYME sent an email to its customer list with a clear message: the company was going out of business. The email urged customers to grab their favorite TYME products before it was too late.
Around the same time, founder Jacynda Smith published a YouTube video titled “Closing TYME: The hardest video I’ve ever had to make.” In it, she described more than 10 years of building the brand and explained how painful the decision to shut it down was for her personally.
The combination of a direct customer email and an emotional founder video made the closure feel definitive. It spread quickly across social media, including TikTok, where users echoed the “permanent closing” language directly.
This was not a vague “restructuring” message that got misread. The language used was explicit about permanent closure. Customers took it seriously — and many of them rushed to make last-minute purchases.
Why Jacynda Smith Was Forced to Close TYME
Jacynda Smith built TYME from the ground up after years of frustration with conventional hair tools. The TYME Iron was designed to combine a straightener and curling iron into one tool, and Smith built an entire brand around it — including tutorials, an engaged customer community, and a growing product line.
In her closing video, Smith described the decision as the hardest she had ever made. She pointed to business pressures, operational strain, and personal cost as driving factors, without disclosing specific financial figures publicly.
TYME’s official brand story page uses telling language. It describes fall 2023 as an “unexpected moment” when Smith was “being forced to close the brand.” That framing matters. She didn’t present this as a strategic exit or a planned wind-down. The circumstances left her with limited options.
What those exact pressures were — whether debt, supplier issues, rising operational costs, or something else — has not been publicly detailed beyond general terms. The article sticks to what Smith and the brand have shared openly, without adding speculation.
TYME Did Not Close — It Transferred to New Owners
Here’s the part of the story that most people missed. After the closure announcement spread widely, TYME later revealed that the brand had been sold and would continue under new ownership.
A YouTube video titled “TYME IS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP! Meet the new owners!” introduced the incoming owners and addressed the prior closing announcement directly. TYME’s brand story page now describes the fall 2023 moment not as an ending, but as “the beginning of a new chapter.”
This kind of outcome is more common than people realize. A founder reaches a breaking point. The brand can’t continue under its current structure. But the product line has real value, the customer base is loyal, and someone else sees an opportunity. The result: the brand survives under different ownership, even after a genuine closure announcement was made.
Think of it like a local café that posts a “closing soon” sign due to rising rent — then a new operator buys the space, keeps the name and the menu, and reopens a few months later. The original owner was serious about closing. But the brand itself didn’t disappear.
That’s roughly what happened with TYME.
Where TYME Stands Today
As of now, tymestyle.com is active and selling products. The TYME Iron and other tools are listed on the site. The brand’s social channels show ongoing activity, including product marketing content like a video titled “Top 3 reasons you should NOT buy a TYME Iron” — a format that signals a business still trying to reach new customers, not one winding down.
The new owners have communicated directly with the TYME audience through video. They’ve acknowledged what happened in 2023 and positioned the brand as continuing forward. Social content from 2024 onward supports that the business is operating, not defunct.
If you’re researching this right now, the most reliable thing you can do is check the official website and look at the dates on any content you find. A lot of posts still circulate from late 2023 that say TYME is closing. Those posts were accurate at the time they were written — but the situation changed after the brand was acquired.
What This Means for Customers With Existing Products
If you bought a TYME Iron before or during the 2023 closing announcement, you may have questions about warranties, returns, and replacement parts. That’s a fair concern.
In general, when a brand is sold rather than fully liquidated, the new owner often takes on customer service obligations for existing products. But “often” is not “always,” and policies can vary depending on how the acquisition was structured.
The practical advice here is simple: don’t assume. Go to tymestyle.com, check the current warranty and return policies, and reach out to TYME’s customer service directly if you have a specific question. Don’t rely on information from a 2023 blog post or social media comment. Contact the brand and get a current answer.
Was the Closure Email a Marketing Trick?
Some customers have wondered whether the “going out of business” email was deliberately designed to drive a sales spike. That’s a reasonable question to ask when a brand later turns up operating under new ownership.
Based on what’s publicly available, the answer appears to be no. Smith’s closing video was personal and detailed. TYME’s own brand story uses the phrase “forced to close.” There’s no public statement from TYME or Smith suggesting the closure was staged or used as a promotional tactic.
The more straightforward explanation is that Smith was genuinely planning to shut down, a buyer came forward, and the closure was called off. That’s not a deception — it’s a business transition that moved faster than the initial announcement.
It does, however, leave some customers feeling unsettled. They may have rushed to buy products they didn’t need, or made decisions based on news that turned out to be temporary. That kind of communication whiplash is a real issue for brand trust, and it’s something the new owners will need to address over time through consistent and transparent messaging.
The Broader Business Lesson Here
TYME’s story is a useful example for anyone running or studying small, founder-led brands. A few things stand out:
- Closure announcements can be genuine and still be reversed. A founder’s intention to close is real — but an acquisition can change the outcome, sometimes quickly.
- Viral “going out of business” content has a long shelf life. Posts, emails, and videos from 2023 are still circulating. Outdated content can mislead people long after the situation has changed.
- Brand value can survive founder departure. TYME had a loyal customer base and a recognizable product. That made it worth acquiring even when the original structure was collapsing.
- Customers deserve clear, timely updates. When a business status changes this significantly, proactive communication matters. Readers finding this article today are still confused — which means the update didn’t reach everyone who needed it.
For more practical business coverage on topics like brand transitions, small business closures, and ownership changes, visit Open Business Mag.
The Short Answer
TYME did announce it was going out of business in November 2023. That announcement was real, and it came directly from founder Jacynda Smith. But the brand was subsequently acquired by new owners and continues to operate today.
If you’re wondering whether you can still buy a TYME Iron — yes, you can, through the official website. If you have questions about an existing product or warranty, contact TYME directly and confirm current policies with the new ownership team.
The confusion around this story is understandable. The closure announcement was explicit, emotional, and widely shared. The follow-up didn’t reach everyone. But TYME is not gone — it just looks different than it did when Jacynda Smith was running it.
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