Robert Williams has been around the block a few times.
Williams, who is known as Bobby, has spent nearly his entire career in the accessories and leather goods sector. His résumé includes 18 years at Hartmann Luggage, followed by Lotis leather goods, Johnston & Murphy and his own Boconi Bags & Leather collection.
Six months ago he was lured out of semi-retirement/consulting by Ghurka to spearhead a reinvention of the venerable brand. Ghurka, which was founded 48 years ago by Trafalgar founder Marley Hodgson, has been owned by Candlewood Partners, a Cleveland-based investment banking firm, since 2018. The owners at that time had been struggling to keep the brand afloat, at which point Candlewood made a structured investment to help stabilize the company. The business continued to struggle and it filed for bankruptcy the next year. Candlewood, whose managing director is Ghurka’s current chief executive officer Glenn Pollack, purchased the assets in the fall of 2018.
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Williams said Pollack is a fan of the brand and owns more than 30 pieces. As a result, there is “absolutely no intention to sell the business,” but instead “return it to its glory.”
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That journey may not be an easy one. The brand, whose name derives from the handcrafted leather goods created for the Ghurka soldiers of Nepal, who are renowned for their bravery, had built a reputation as a high-end label known for its craftsmanship. Over the course of its history, Ghurka has had several owners and operators, with some compromising on quality and instituting a questionable distribution strategy.
“It’s been bought and sold four times,” Williams said. “And everybody put their own spin on what they wanted. The best part about Candlewood is that they didn’t mess it up.”
Instead, the investment bank pulled Ghurka out of the wholesale market to focus exclusively on direct-to-consumer and hired John Truex as creative director. Truex brought a rich history in leather goods to the brand — he cofounded Lambertson Truex and won a CFDA Award for Accessory Designer of the Year. He had also worked for Tiffany & Co. and Shinola.
“He’s super talented, and unlike most designers, he’s not egotistical,” Williams said. Instead, Truex “dove in head-first, studied the archives and painstakingly rebuilt the icons.”
When Ghurka was founded, there were no such things as cell phones or laptops so Truex took the heritage pieces and modernized them to appeal to today’s customer, Williams said.
Today, the Express, a $2,695 duffel in chestnut leather, is the top volume-producing product. It was also the second piece that Ghurka ever made, Williams said. That is followed by the Overlander tote brief, retail $1,795; the Gearpack messenger for $1,295, and the Examiner briefcase, which sells for $1,895 in leather.
The company makes most of its products in the U.S. — Ghurka’s original Norwalk, Conn., factory creates the line’s most-intricate pieces — while the remainder are made in Europe. Under former owners, the brand had manufactured much of its line in China and prices ranged from $500 to $750. But now, they run from $1,000 to $3,000.
Williams was first tapped to oversee sales and marketing for Ghurka, but quickly transitioned into the president’s role. He has been tasked with returning the brand to the wholesale market, but in a controlled way.
Ghurka dipped its toe back into the wholesale arena earlier this year by showing at Project in New York as well as the Chicago Collective. The brand has added high-end specialty store clients such as Oak Hall in Memphis, Stanley Korshak in Dallas, John Craig in Florida and others, Williams said.
Although his efforts are focused on the U.S., Ghurka has also been picked up by Tomorrowland in Japan, which just launched 25 pieces from the collection in its new Maison et Voyage travel shop. Ghurka has also been dabbling in golf, tennis, field and stream and other lifestyle sports with special products, such as a made-to-measure golf bag for $12,000.
While Ghurka’s new pricing may put it out of reach for some retailers, Williams said he’s willing to work with stores on special programs. He pointed to Hinton & Hinton, a men’s shop in Oxford, Miss., as an example. The retailer had been purchasing pieces from the line for several years to fulfill special requests from its customers, so Williams asked if a trunk show might be an option. “We did $25,000 in two days,” he said.
Going forward, Williams said he will work to bring Ghurka to other high-end specialty stores, upscale golf pro shops and even luxury department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
“We sold only direct-to-consumer for six years, but we’re switching pretty quickly to wholesale,” he said.
The company will also work to revise its marketing strategy; add more updated pieces, such as a trolley that it expects to be able to offer by the middle of next year, and is also looking to open an office or showroom in New York City. Right now the company is spread around the country with its headquarters at Candlewood’s offices in Cleveland, Truex operating from his horse farm in Aiken, S.C., and Williams in Nashville. “New York is expensive, but we should have a showroom or studio there,” he said.
One thing he’s not planning to do — at least not right now — is reopen Ghurka retail stores. The company had at one point operated a New York City flagship on Madison Avenue. “What is more appetizing to us is shops-in-shop — that’s how I see us growing at the beginning,” he said. “But we have positive, steady growth plans.”
And the unwavering support of its owner. “Candlewood has been quite mindful of Ghurka’s rich heritage and iconic designs as we have developed the brand’s business strategy,” Pollack said. “Our approach has been to continually enhance our product quality and recruit the best team in the industry. Our efforts have resulted in John Truex leading our design and development efforts as creative director and Bobby Williams joining as president to drive our strategy to serve the best boutique luxury retailers and golf clubs across the world. We look forward to partnering with retailers whose commitment to quiet luxury matches ours as we develop Ghurka into the luxury brand of choice for discriminating customers.”