Go Global, which has carved out a niche in premium childrenswear with Janie and Jack and also Brums Milano, is now going after moms to be with Hatch Collective.
The brand investment platform, founded by apparel veteran Jeff Streader, acquired Hatch last week with an eye toward connecting with women when they become pregnant and then keeping them as customers as their children grow.
The 13-year-old Hatch was founded by Ariane Goldman and specializes in premium maternity looks, including denim leggings and underpinning, as well as beauty and wellness products, like belly oil.
Brand management firm Marquee had taken a minority stake in Hatch and started using it as umbrella for its maternity names, including A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity, in early 2023. But now Hatch is going is own way with Go Global.
It was the brand’s connection with customers that really drew Streader and his team to the company.
“Their customer lists of a mom that would buy a $200 pair of jeans and pay $65 for belly oil — we looked at her as being interesting for us and probably our customer,” Streader said.
Go Global bought the business from a collection of shareholders, including Goldman, and wants to use both Hatch and its editorial side, Babe, to help build out a group of brands on a single platform that is dedicated to moms and their younger kids.
“We are now active in the marketplace to acquire additional brands that would be a part of this platform where, most important, we can share the customer file,” Streader said. “We’re in three active projects right now and we are not going to build up a portfolio of apparel brands. It would be brands that are with different products or services that would be complementary to the overall platform.”
The idea is to make some broader strategic use of the money Hatch already spends to acquire its customers.
Janie and Jack styles.
Streader — who during his time in the industry held high-level positions at VF Corp., Kellwood Co. and Billabong — got into the kids business in 2021, when Go Global bought Janie and Jack from Gap Inc.
The firm focused on resetting the brand with investments both in the online and the brick-and-mortar business.
“That strategy has paid off and we built a very strong backend,” Streader said. “Our supply chain, our technology, our operations, our logistics and distribution, our finance team, the back office is strong and the business has more than doubled and it’s very profitable.”
Mo Beig, copresident and chief financial officer of Janie and Jack, said the business now has about 120 stores and, together with Hatch, is tracking toward nearly $300 million in annual revenue.
“We want to be where the mom…is all the way from the journey of her becoming a mother to when her kids are 8 to 10 years old,” Beig said.
“We want to be part of her journey and we want to share the experiences,” he said. “So we want to be in those places, in those moments and in those commercial activities that she enjoys for herself and our family. Hatch is the beginning of that process. Janie and Jack is a company that is a continuation of that journey and we look at other opportunities similarly, which will compliment that journey of her motherhood and how do we make it more special for her.”
