With the acquisition of Burrow, a direct-to-consumer furniture brand, Havenly Brands has made five acquisitions in the last two years.
Burrow is a firm that offers quick-ship, modular goods in a variety of categories, including living room, dining room, bedroom, storage, outdoor, and office. By acquiring Burrow through an equity and cash agreement, Havenly expands its presence into DTC furnishings. Stephen Kuhl and Kabeer Chopra established Burrow, which was introduced in 2017 with the intention of addressing a perceived void in the conventional furniture industry.
Since its beginnings as an online-only business, Burrow has expanded into showrooms, with four currently operating in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Burrow has an annualized revenue of nine figures. A showroom in Atlanta that debuted in 2022 has since shut down.
Mayer said that Burrow is approaching furniture retailing with a “no-nonsense approach” in an interview with Furniture Today, a sister company of HTT. Burrow is a “well-operated, healthy business,” and Mayer said she was “impressed by the scale, design, and new products” that it provided.
Noting that the company has 40 patents, she also praised Burrow and its staff for their inventiveness, pointing to the Opera media console as an example.
“I’ve known Stephen and Burrow for years,” she stated, adding that they had previously discussed joining but had not done so.
“Burrow closes a special gap in our portfolio and the market. We can’t wait to incorporate the Burrow team and use the knowledge gained to improve the overall client experience.
To help with the transition, Kuhl is anticipated to remain until the end of the year, and possibly longer. But Mayer noted that since Kuhl is an entrepreneur, he might have fresh concepts to consider. Even if Havenly has its own international product design and marketing teams, Mayer stated that “the vast majority of the team is staying.”
In a prepared statement, Kuhl stated, “We are excited to finally work together after admiring Havenly for years.” Since 2019, Lee and I have discussed working together. Although there were a number of possible directions, Havenly’s portfolio of top-performing brands, enthusiasm for retail, and tremendous growth levers drew us in.
“Our goal at Burrow is to develop solutions that improve people’s lives,” he stated.
With this most recent acquisition, Havenly—which began as and continues to run a digital-first interior design platform—rebranded to Havenly Brands in order to better fit the company’s overarching strategy. The Inside, which sells furnishings for the design trade; The Citizenry, a direct-to-consumer décor brand; Interior Define, a custom furniture provider with 13 design studios around the country; and St. Frank, a soft home décor brand, are among its purchases in the last two years.
Because every brand expression is unique, Mayer stated that the strategy is to keep each e-commerce brand operating independently as a consumer-facing platform while combining back-end teams with shared services.
Additionally, there is a chance for cross-selling. A customer who purchases a couch from
Mayer claimed that since purchasing The Citzenry in February, they have “pushed hard into retail,” opening a store inside Interior Define’s Denver design studio, exploring other locations, and bringing back collections. According to Mayer, the brand “is growing nicely year-over-year.”
She clarified that St. Frank, which was acquired in June, needs a somewhat different strategy. There, the emphasis has been on reassessing the selection and price and bringing them into compliance.
Even if the “really distressed” properties have vanished, Mayer is certain that there are still appealing businesses to add to Havenly Brands’ portfolio, despite admitting that “after this deal, I felt I should take a break.” “I really love a few brands,” she remarked.
