Prestigious Kate Somerville Skincare Line Bought By Unilever

Founded in 1986, the San Francisco-based private equity firm JH Partners has built a reputation for recruiting and investing growth capital in popular consumer brands. An example of JH Partners’ successful sale executions is its sale of a 75 percent ownership in the prestigious independent brand, Kate Somerville Skincare LLC.

One of the best-liked names in the premium skincare market, Kate Somerville blends natural botanicals with unique active ingredients for results that customers love. Some of its most popular products are the Exfolikate and Dermal Quench at-home skin therapies. Having expanded throughout the United States, the brand now has its sights set on growing its prominence in Asia with the support of its new parent company, Unilever.

Boasting that the most famous faces in Hollywood prefer Kate Somerville Skincare’s top-quality products, Unilever’s senior vice president, Vasiliki Petrou, said she is confident that the brand with break through into more markets in Asia.

Unilever Prestige’s Strategic Acquisition of Kate Somerville Skincare

Based in San Francisco, JH Partners, LLC, maintains a portfolio of consumer-facing companies in which it has significant holdings. In 2015, JH Partners divested its holdings in Kate Somerville Skincare, LLC, which holds a strong position in America’s premium skincare market. 

The innovative products Kate Somerville offers include those that combine natural botanicals with active ingredients and are part of an advanced Active Balance Technology™ line, which has attracted repeat customers. Numerous Hollywood personalities utilize the skincare products, which adds a touch of glamor. Recognized for innovative performance, the products have attained a significant foothold in the Asian market as well. Among the most popular treatments are Dermal Quench and Exfolikate. 

Kate Somerville Skincare’s acquisition by Unilever Prestige took place as part of an expansion of Unilever’s personal care portfolio. As described by a Unilever Prestige Brands executive, the global skincare and beauty products leader was attracted by Kate Somerville’s highly differentiated products, which it felt had significant potential to break into new markets.

An Overview of Multichannel Marketing

JH Partners leverages an expertise in driving brand awareness to help consumer companies attract customers and increase profits. JH Partners’ leadership team is especially adept at coordinating and optimizing multichannel marketing strategies. 

Employing a combination of direct and indirect communication strategies, multichannel marketing promotes goods and services through new media platforms, such as websites, mobile apps, and SMS messaging, as well as traditional advertising approaches, such as print ads, product packaging, and word-of-mouth. The ultimate goal of multichannel marketing is to reach customers on their channels of choice and make it easier for them to buy a product or service how and when they want. 

In today’s ever-connected world, multichannel communications has become a critical component of consumer marketing. With the help of an effective multichannel strategy, companies can promote brand awareness, deliver a consistent marketing message, and learn more about customer behaviors and preferences. All of these benefits help boost consumer retention and loyalty and ultimately lead to an increase in sales and overall business growth.

Design Within Reach - Making Authentic Modern Furniture Accessible

Working from its base in San Francisco, JH Partners serves as a leading private equity firm concentrating on investing growth capital funding in consumer brand companies. Its team has extensive experience in helping companies develop and succeed in new markets, increase the strength of sales systems, and build out the most value possible from innovations. Among its other investments, JH Partners has worked with Design Within Reach, which markets its furniture inventory by legendary designers through its website, direct sales force, studios and catalog.

Design Within Reach studios are located across the United States. Prospective buyers – along with their children and pets - are invited to explore, touch, and get to know the full range of products on display. All the furniture pieces offered by Design Within Reach are original designs by creators such as Herman Miller, Eero Saarinen, and the iconic American mid-century husband-and-wife duo of Charles and Ray Eames.

Design Within Reach’s founders decided in 1998 to make authentic, modern, iconic furniture designs accessible to the discerning general public. In contrast to competitors and previous industry practices, the company maintains an up-to-date inventory and works directly with consumers without introducing intermediaries. Customers purchase directly from Design Within Reach, without having to go through the often tedious and time-consuming process of trying to source furnishings from European dealers.

Design With Reach’s New Location in Portland Oregon

Providing equity and marketing expertise, JH Partners has been involved with numerous successful partnerships. One of JH Partners consummated collaborations is with Design Within Reach (DWR) a retailer of unique contemporary design furnitures and accessories. The now NASDAQ traded company currently utilizes four cohesive sales channels comprised of website, studios, direct sales force, and catalog.

In January 2017, DWR launched its latest retail space in Portland, Oregon. The circa 1890 two-floor brick warehouse known as the Stagecraft Building is found in the North Pearl District. It was originally used as distribution location for housewares and potteries.

In creating the two-story studio, the company worked with Portland-based Fieldwork Design and Architecture to create a number of distinct featured spaces such as Chilewich Shop-in-Shop which offers vibrant table placemats, woven floor mats, and complementary table runners by designer Sandy Chilwich. The Swatch Wall space features two 30-foot-long displays of various material and color ranges representing numerous wall-mounted upholstery tiles, providing a peek to the over 3,000 custom choices offered by Spinneybeck®, Knoll®, and others.

The Benefits of Direct Marketing Techniques

From its headquarters in San Francisco, California, JH Partners works with many large brands, including Gap, La Perla, and Frette. An equity firm that places its focus on enhancing consumer brand engagement, JH Partners leverages its consumer expertise to offer multichannel marketing services that include direct marketing techniques such as brochures and catalogs. There are a number of benefits to direct marketing campaigns.

1. Despite the increased prevalence of the Internet, direct mail is still one of the most effective ways to attract new customers. The United States Postal Service found that almost a quarter of people visited the location of a store after receiving direct mail from them.

2. Direct marketing can be targeted to the customers that products are most likely to appeal to. This approach allows for money to be saved and leads to higher conversion rates.

3. When incorporated into a dedicated multichannel marketing strategy, direct marketing can enhance awareness of a brand and increase customer engagement.

Peet’s Coffee Offers Sheng Pu’er Limited Edition Tea

JH Partners of San Francisco, California, invests growth capital in consumer companies in a range of industries, including fashion, home decor, entertainment, and health and beauty. Companies on JH Partners’ investments list include Peet’s Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster that provides in-house crafted coffee and tea blends. Peet’s Coffee also offers a selection of rare and limited edition teas, such as its Sheng Pu'er tea. 

Sheng Pu’er undergoes an aging process in which harvesters allow the tea leaves to darken and forgo fermentation to achieve a fresh smell and bittersweet taste. Harvested in 2007 and 2009 from southern China’s Jingmai Mountain range, the limited edition tea leaves were pressed and aged in a Hunan warehouse after they were obtained by Peet's Coffee 2010. 

Pressing and storing allows the leaves to develop a honey-sweet flavor. Tea drinkers can expect an aroma reminiscent of baked acorn squash, pickled vegetables, and distant wood smoke. 

Peet’s Coffee offers the tea in 4.4-ounce packages. A Sheng Pu’er tea gift set is available that consists of a Gaiwan cup and lid, tea strainer, saucer, and two serving cups.

Ouidad's Innovative Products for Curly Hair

 

Since the establishment of the private equity firm, JH Partners has focused on optimizing effective marketing strategies for its internationally known clients. JH Partners has worked with brands such as Ouidad, a salon and hair care specialty company.

In the past, many people with curly hair complained about the texture of their hair after using products designed for their hair type. Most of them ended up with dry, brittle, or oily hair, which made it difficult to maintain. However, celebrities embracing the natural flow of their curls inspired companies like Ouidad to develop products that enhance the hair's volume and texture, rather than weigh it down.

In 2016, Ouidad introduced products like the Curl Immersion range for coiled and curly hair. These products promise to nourish the ringlets by giving them more bounce through extra hydration. Curly hair does not retain moisture as easily as straight hair, and Ouidad’s products will make it possible to rehydrate hair using ingredients like rosemary, sage, coconut, and grapeseed oils.

Frette Sheets Come to London

As a strategic support and equity firm for consumer brands, JH Partners works hand in hand with companies from across the globe in order to further their sales and marketing initiatives. In the past, JH Partners has worked with well-known brands like Frette, the luxury linen manufacturer.

An Italian textile company popular for its luxurious linens, Frette finally opened a flagship store in Mayfair 15 years after its last independent store in London. This is in line with Change Capital Partners’ endeavor to return Frette to its roots of crafting linens out of Italy’s finest textiles since its acquisition of the 156-year-old company in 2014. 

Frette is also set to open in Shanghai and revamp its very first store located in Milan, which opened in 1878. Recently, it has showcased its luxury linens in several shows including the Monaco Yacht Show, the Geneva Air Show, and Elite Days in Portofino in order to promote the brand. 

Frette is best known for its Doppio Ajour bed set in white, although its bespoke options are immeasurable, offered in response to the clamor of its patrons and other customers, which include several high-end hotel groups such as the Ritz-Carlton and Shangri-La.

Italian Fine Linen Maker Frette - 100 Years of Quality

JH Partners operates as a private equity company in San Francisco. The internationally focused firm invests in strong-growth consumer brands on multiple continents, capitalizing on staff expertise in marketing and development to expand their recognition. JH Partners’ investments include successful companies like Frette Srl, an Italian maker of fine linens.

Frette, headquartered in the Milan region, offers luxurious, stylish, high thread-count products for bed, bath, and table. Customers include some of the finest spas, hotels, and airlines, and historic destinations and royal houses all over the world are loyal customers of the brand. Discerning individual consumers have also cherished the company’s products for generations. Frette also manufactures elegant men’s and women’s loungewear and offers numerous home accent items, such as candles and throw pillows.

Opened as a boutique in 1878, Frette now makes products that are available in more than 100 retail locations and online. Incorporated in 1978, the American subsidiary is based in New York and has locations in San Francisco, Chicago, Beverly Hills, and other upscale communities.