Crabtree & Evelyn

Crabtree & Evelyn originated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Janus Films co-founder Cyrus Harvey opened a small shop called The Soap Box in 1955 to sell interesting soaps he sourced from around the world. In 1971 Harvey partnered with English designer Peter Windett in London, and together they renamed the business Crabtree & Evelyn, a name that references both the wild crab apple tree and the 17th century English writer and gardener John Evelyn. According to the brand, Harvey was a committed traveler and nature enthusiast who operated by the personal motto "Explore everything. Keep the best."

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the company expanded from that original shop into an international retail chain, adding a wide range of bath, body, home fragrance, and personal care items. The first stand-alone Crabtree & Evelyn store opened in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania in 1977, and a London shop on Kensington Church Street followed in 1980 after American tourists kept searching for the seemingly “British” brand during trips to the UK. By the 1990s, the brand offered numerous fragrances, seasonal launches, and giftable body care lines across more than 300 stores worldwide.

Crabtree & Evelyn became known for botanically themed scents such as rose, lavender, jasmine, and simple aquatic accords, as well as home fragrance and potpourri after acquiring Scarborough & Company. In 1994 the company was commissioned to design a toiletries range specifically for British Airways Concorde and First Class passengers, underscoring its then-strong presence in travel retail. Harvey sold the company in 1996 to CE Holdings in Kuala Lumpur, and the brand later changed hands several times as the retail model came under pressure.

After years of declining profitability for its brick-and-mortar network, the company announced in 2018 that it would wind down global retail and wholesale operations. Crabtree & Evelyn has since repositioned itself as an online-only brand based out of London, retaining its historical emphasis on scented body care, hand products, and accessible gift sets while operating with a leaner digital-focused structure.