Crabtree & Evelyn
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personal care |
| Founded | 1955 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
| Founder | Cyrus Harvey Jr. |
| Headquarters | London , England |
Area served | United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia |
| Products | Personal care products |
| Parent | Nan Hai Corporation Ltd. |
Crabtree & Evelyn is a personal care company headquartered in London, England. Established in 1955 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it originated as an American retail chain before growing into an international enterprise. The original proprietors divested the company in 1996, and it subsequently underwent several ownership transitions.
By 2009, physical store locations experienced reduced profitability, prompting a series of closures. In November 2018, the organization declared its intention to discontinue all retail and wholesale activities worldwide by 2019. The brand was revived on 16 July 2019 as a digital-only retailer. Nevertheless, the US website stopped processing sales in February 2022 and has remained dormant since then.
Founding
The inception of Crabtree & Evelyn traces back to Cyrus Harvey Jr., who launched it as The Soap Box in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1971, Harvey collaborated with English designer Peter Windett, leading to the rebranding of the firm as Crabtree & Evelyn. The initial retail outlets comprised a market stall at Faneuil Hall in Boston (1977) and a dedicated store located in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.
Harvey was responsible for product development while Windett concentrated on packaging design and brand identity. Due to interest from American visitors seeking the brand in England, the first UK retail location opened on Kensington Church Street in 1980. The company expanded its footprint throughout the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.
The name pays tribute to John Evelyn, a 17th-century English writer and horticulturist. The original emblem depicted a wild apple tree—symbolizing "Crabtree"—to emphasize the brand’s historical roots.
Acquisitions
In 1996, Cyrus Harvey transferred ownership of Crabtree & Evelyn to Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, a Malaysian holding company that formed the subsidiary CE Holdings. Although financed and overseen from Kuala Lumpur, core functions such as research and development, manufacturing, and design continued to operate out of Alpharetta, Georgia.
In July 2009, Crabtree & Evelyn Ltd. sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. District Court for Manhattan, which led to shutting down 30 of its 126 stores across the United States. Retail locations within the UK were not impacted by this filing.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd sold CE Holdings in 2012 to Khuan Choo International Ltd., a Hong Kong-based firm, for US$155 million.
In October 2016, ownership of the brand passed to Nan Hai Corporation Ltd., a holding company based in Hong Kong.