Luxury home decor brand Jonathan Adler has been acquired by the private equity firm Consortium Brand Partners (CBP) for an undisclosed amount, founder Jonathan Adler has confirmed.
The deal, which closed on December 23, 2024, is CBP’s third acquisition in 18 months, including Reese Witherspoon’s clothing brand, Draper James in 2023, and more recently, athleisure brand Outdoor Voices last year.
As the focus of many retailers has shifted to creating a more nimble distribution model online, Adler has been bullish on expanding the brand’s brick-and-mortar presence. Since launching the first store of Adler’s namesake brand in Soho in 1998, the design company has unveiled 10 locations across the U.S. and U.K., including a 5,500-square-foot flagship on Lexington Avenue in New York City. That’s in addition to an e-commerce site and an interior design business for clients including the American Dream mall in New Jersey.
Amid Adler’s enterprising operations, he has spoken in the past about the struggles of running a creative business today. “Retail is in a state of flux,” Adler told Business of Home in 2018. “The retail real estate bubble is kinda bursting.”
And yet, he says this acquisition is an opportunity to take the brand to new heights. “Business has been very good lately, thank God, and I have a limitless appetite for even more,” he tells ELLE DECOR. “So when we started talking to our new partners, I felt that this was a huge opportunity for me to do even more with their support.”
After abruptly shuttering its fleet of 15 stores amid reports of near-bankruptcy in March 2024, Outdoor Voices had found a lifeline in CBP. “We’re about building organic growth,” said Jonathan Greller, CBP president and co-founder at the time. “We’re in no rush to acquire a brand and push it out.” Outdoor Voices has since been embarking on a multi-year turnaround plan that will include adding footwear, loungewear and swimwear to its assortment, ramping up retail partnerships and investing in events, Greller added.
Jonathan Adler—which is still privately held, although private equity firm GF Capital invested in the company in 2008 and remains a financial partner, WWD reported—appears to be in a better position. In 2023, the brand celebrated its 30th anniversary with the unveiling of its tenth store, a 2,500-square-foot store in London. That was a year after Adler opened a three-story hybrid space that serves as a retail flagship/pottery studio/headquarters in downtown Manhattan. There’s no indication that the company’s staff have been let go in recent months.
For Adler, who will continue in his role as founder and chief creative officer, the acquisition signals a new dawn for the company. “My new partners are very bullish on me and the business,” he explains. “I think it’s a sign that in a world where everyone’s always disparaging about the disposability of stuff, people will continue to want to support quality, authenticity and craft.”
For those worried about whether the brand’s signature line of moody-mouthed vases will still be on the shelves, Adler says, fear not. “It’s business as usual—just more of it.”
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the to the on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
