Studio McGee Joins Forces with Strand Equity to Expand International Reach

March 31, 2021  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

With modest beginnings as a Salt Lake City-based interior design firm, Studio McGee has quickly amassed a national cult following with designs that inspire and motivate its customers to live well. This vision has since manifested into the brand’s own e-commerce website, McGee & Co., a social media presence of over 3.8-million followers, a licensing partnership with Target, a New York Times best-selling book and Netflix original series, to go along with its legacy design services platform. The capital raised will be used to invest further into exclusive product offerings on McGee & Co. as well as expanding the brand’s licensing, entertainment and media partnerships. The financial terms of this investment were not disclosed.

Launched in 2014 by stay-at-home mom, Shea McGee, Studio McGee was born out of a spare bedroom in her home. Joined by her husband, Syd McGee, the husband-and-wife pair bootstrapped their business and launched McGee & Co. with a handful of pillow and decor items in 2016.

Today, McGee & Co. offers a vast range of products including furniture, rugs, pillows, decor, artwork, mirrors, lighting and bed & bath. In 2020, McGee & Co. served over 83,000 customers, with 51% of these customers as repeat customers and 49% as first-time customers.

Led by a mission to “make life beautiful –– for ourselves and each other,” the McGees are driven by a constant obsession to find new and better ways to serve their customers. 2020 marked a landmark year for the business with the debut of Studio McGee’s New York Times best-selling book, Make Life Beautiful, the premiere and subsequent second season of the Netflix original series, Dream Home Makeover, and the brand’s first licensing partnership with Target for Threshold.  

“We’re incredibly proud of how far the brand has come, all with the intent of better serving our customers,” said Shea McGee, co-founder and chief creative officer. “We started by sharing our passion for interior design and renovation with a small following and it grew into the multi-faceted brand we have today. We know there is so much more to come and are thrilled to have found such a great partner in Strand Equity who will help us continue to bring our vision to life. Their expertise in licensing and brand-building is an immense value-add we were looking for in a partner and we are confident in the great work we can do together.”

“We sought to find a partner that brings more to the table beyond capital and have found just that in Strand,” said Syd McGee, co-founder and CEO. “We plan to utilize Strand’s incredible acumen in the space and deploy capital to effectively scale our business to continue to serve our customers in the best possible way. This investment will be instrumental in expanding the Studio McGee brand into new categories.”

Strand Equity is a leading growth equity firm investing in the next generation of iconic consumer brands and services. Strand partners with emerging brands to scale their businesses through its marketing and operational expertise, as well as its extensive network of industry relationships. Current and realized investments include Youth To The People, Real Good Foods, Bai Brands, HIPPEAS, Sweaty Betty, HUM Nutrition and Vita Coco, among others.

“In just a few short years, Shea and Syd McGee have built an enduring brand with the innovative vision that beautiful design can and should be approachable,” said Kevin Chen, principal at Strand Equity. “We are thrilled to partner with Studio McGee in its next phase of growth, as the Company’s combination of a digitally-native footprint, design-driven value proposition and authentic brand following make it well-positioned to continue taking share in a highly-fragmented, growing market.”