Crate and Barrel has big plans for its newly acquired boutique brand.
The home furnishing retailer announced its acquisition of Hudson Grace, a boutique home decor, entertaining and gift brand based in San Francisco. Founded in 2012, Hudson Grace is known for modern tabletop and entertaining essentials designed to evoke the coastal California lifestyle.
Crate and Barrel plans to grow the Hudson Grace brand through retail expansion into niche markets. With more than 47% of its sales coming through online channels, Crate and Barrel will also leverage its digital capabilities to grow the brand’s developing e-commerce business. Future plans include the introduction of an edited Hudson Grace collection in select Crate and Barrel stores in time for the holidays.
Hudson Grace, which operates five California stores and one Atlanta store, will remain a standalone business offering intimate and highly specialized shopping experiences in small-format stores. Co-founders Gary McNatton, who spent eight years as VP of Gap Inc., and Monelle Totah, who did product development for Williams-Sonoma and Banana Republic, will continue to lead all aspects of the Hudson Grace brand while offering design expertise to support growth categories such as textiles, fragrance and modern gifts.
“We’re excited to welcome Hudson Grace and look forward to focusing our digital expertise on creating a wider audience for the brand,” said Neela Montgomery, CEO of Crate and Barrel. “Hudson Grace has an entrepreneurial spirit, boutique feel and curated mix of new and vintage product that enhances our current brand portfolio including CB2 and Crate and Kids.”
Crate and Barrel is part of Crate and Barrel Holdings, which also includes CB2, Crate and Kids and now Hudson Grace. It is owned by the Otto Group, a global retail and services group based in Hamburg, Germany.