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This approach led the company into bags and luggage, eventually securing major retail relationships with some of America’ s largest chains, including Kmart, Walmart and Target. Furthermore, Eli’ s networking quickly paid off.“ I was very pleasantly aggressive,” he laughs.“ I learned golf to play tournaments with buyers. I’ d take meetings anywhere I could and do everything possible to build relationships.”
One breakthrough moment came in 1991, when the company secured a $ 2.4 million order for a newly developed diaper bag range.“ The whole company was doing about $ 600,000 at the time,” Eli notes.“ That one order completely changed the trajectory.” From there, the business expanded rapidly into children’ s apparel, licensed products and brand ownership strategies.“ I started to realize that you have much more leverage if you own brands,” he adds.“ You’ re not just making products for retailers anymore. You own something of value.” Evolving from trading company to brand owner laid the foundations for today’ s CP Brands, which now has a portfolio spanning childrenswear, activewear, outdoor apparel and lifestyle brands – including RBX, Milkberry, and now Thomas Pink – with collective retail sales approaching $ 1 billion.
Originally founded in London in 1984, the Thomas Pink brand had years of global success under LVMH ownership before changing hands several times in the postpandemic retail landscape.“ I specialize in buying brands that haven’ t been completely diluted and reviving them,” Eli states.“ Thomas Pink still had incredible equity and a high-quality product – the previous owners just couldn’ t deliver and scale it the way the brand deserved. Almost everyone I know has Thomas Pink shirts in their closet!” Eli believes now is the right time for
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