Crabtree & Evelyn
Crabtree & Evelyn /ˈkræbtriː ænd ˈiːvlɪn/ is an international retailer of body, fragrance and home care products with stores globally. Founded in the USA, the brand was acquired in January 2016, by Nan Kai Corporation of Hong Kong.
Founding
The company was founded in 1968 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Janus Films busineesman Cyrus Harvey. The first retail store was opened in 1977 by Stephen Miller at the Montgomery Mall located in North Wales, Pennsylvania.
The Company's name, conceived by Harvey and designer Peter Windett was inspired by the 17th Century renaissance Englishman John Evelyn, who wrote one of the first important works on conservation. He is also known for his writings on food, including a book on salads, in which he introduced the first salad dressing made with olive oil to Europe. The Crabtree or Wild Apple symbol is native to Britain and the ancestor of all cultivated apple trees[1] It was highly prized for its beauty, as well as its usefulness in home apothecary. Although certain documents and much of the current marketing is consistent with the information above, a number of early Crabtree & Evelyn documents point to the name being inspired by a "George Crabtree", who is allegedly a "17th century Englishmen". If "George Crabtree" was indeed a fictionalised entity (in the vein of "John Bull" or, "Uncle Sam')[2] the surname `Crabtree' and the reason behind its selection would still be consistent with current marketing.
Acqusitions
In 1996, Cyrus Harvey decided to sell the company, and it was sold to Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad and operated by a subsidiary as CE Holdings. While funded and managed by the holding company in Kuala Lumpur, day-to-day operations—such as research and development, manufacturing, and design—continue to be based in the UK and US.
CE Holdings was sold to the Hong Kong-based investment-holding company Khuan Choo International Limited, as of July 2012, for USD 155,000,000.[3]
On July 1, 2009, Crabtree & Evelyn's operations filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That month, the company had closed more than 30 stores domestically due to an inability to re-negotiate leases with the stores. The employees of those closed stores were made redundant, but received compensation. When 2010 began, the company had recovered from bankruptcy.
References
- ↑ "A Modern Herbal - Apple". botanical.com.
- ↑ "John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations - Exhibitions (Library of Congress)". loc.gov. 22 July 2010.
- ↑
External links
Media related to Crabtree & Evelyn at Wikimedia Commons