The Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever brand had a rocky start, but it was the kind of problem most start-ups dream of: the business’s founder underestimated interest in her product, and after selling out of the entire product line within minutes (twice), everything had to be adjusted so that As Ever wouldn’t be permanently sold-out. People criticized Meghan for her soldout lines (“she only had small numbers in stock, it was all a stunt”) just as they criticize her now for NOT selling out within minutes (“guess she isn’t that popular after all!”). In six months’ time, Meghan has turned As Ever into an actual business with products on demand, available for sale for weeks before selling out. She’s expanded As Ever organically into multiple wine lines, candles and jam holiday gift-boxes. She did all of this online, without having to collaborate with a brick-and-mortar chain like Target or Kohl’s (although I would love to see As Ever at Kohl’s). Well, Tom Sykes has decided, on his Royalist Substack, that As Ever is a flop because… the products are not being sold in Netflix’s two stores.
It’s been a bad ten days for Meghan and Harry, and the news doesn’t get any better today with an exclusive revelation by The Royalist that Meghan Markle’s As Ever line, which is backed by Netflix, will not be stocked at Netflix’s soon-to-open brick-and-mortar store in Dallas, Netflix House. A source confirmed the news to The Royalist after a tip-off from one of my Substack readers.
The news was subsequently confirmed to me by the Sussex camp. Their rep spun it as no big deal, saying that the plan for As Ever had always been that it would be an online offering.
It’s a line that is undermined by Meghan’s own comments just weeks ago at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., where she spoke brightly about exploring brick-and-mortar opportunities and “finding partners” to sell her products.
The truth is that Netflix appears to be losing interest in the As Ever project, in which they invested heavily (they are Meghan’s sole financial partner in the business).
The excuse that Netflix House shelf space was never part of the plan is somewhat undermined by the fact that Bridgerton-themed products (some of which appear to be made at the same white-label factory as Meghan’s items) are being sold there. This shows the suits clearly regard a Netflix House placement as a meaningful opportunity for their favored brands.
I think most people will conclude that the real reason Bridgerton (about a fictionalised British royal family) is in and Meghan is out is that With love, Meghan wasn’t a massive global hit. If the store can stock Shonda Rhimes’s pastel-toned Regency universe, it is not entirely clear why it wouldn’t wish to stock Meghan’s Santa Barbara idyll for anything other than commercial non-reasons.
The fact is that, As Ever, and With Love, Meghan have struggled to plant a flag in our consciousness like Bridgerton has…It looks to me like Netflix is being cautious about tying the Sussex brand too closely to its flagship ventures.
“They were given a shot at being producers,” one industry source told me recently, “It hasn’t exactly been a Hollywood success story.”
Something that amuses me is that royalists like Tom Sykes now admit that the Sussexes had a great deal from Netflix for five years, but they only admit that to mock the Sussexes’ new first-look deal. It’s true that it appears as if Meghan is downsizing her projects – she made it sound like With Love, Meghan is on hold for a while, same with her podcasting. She’s not downsizing because “everyone hates her, especially Netflix!” She’s culling her commitments because As Ever is so successful and it demands so much of her attention. She’s not making some cheesy Bridgerton-themed kitsch to be sold exclusively at Netflix’s two stores. She’s built an excellent direct-to-consumer platform which is already a huge success.
Screencap courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s video. Photos courtesy of As Ever’s Instagram and site.
The Sussex camp would not run to the media to assist in Sussex stories
And you’d think Sykes would know about As Ever now in Godmothers. Yep, ‘bricks and mortar’.
Sounds like Syko had one of his unpaid interns pretend to be a mystery shopper / caller. Whatever. Distraction from the fact that Syko is only making money off of Meghan’$ back.
Silly man. Well, he has to make rent.
Sykes is now a full blown troll. He has thousands of subscribers on Substack and it looks like he now taking tip offs from his deranged followers. It’s just a grift for him, horrible man. He needs to continue with the anti Meghan narrative no matter how bonkers in order to keep his paid subscribers happy. He’s no better than Dan Wooten or Angela Levin!
@Julia Completely agree. He did some good livestreams and articles about Andrew, really calling out Charles and the subterfuge surrounding the titles and has now reverted to full Sussex hater mode. He actually follows some of the hardcore anti Meghan accounts.
Bridgerton has already had three seasons and a spin off. WLM basically has had one season that Netflix split into two parts. Despite having less time to build an audience, As Ever products continue to fly off the shelves. Sykes really thinks his readers are stupid.
He’s always been a Sussex hater. But the thing is, he’s not necessarily pro Wales either. The anti-sussex people in general tend to forget that when they read his nasty screeds like this one – they think oh he’s team Wales! – and then get so mad when he writes a super shady article about William.
The raspberry spread is sold out again.
Technically you can still get the raspberry if you buy the trio, which is in the gift box or just by buying the trio for less. Then you could keep the raspberry and gift the others, lol. My parents strait-up love the strawberry. I’m gonna gift jam and flower sprinkles to my neighbors. One neighbor spends so much money every year making this huge ginger bread decorating Christmas party for all the kids. She caters breakfast and everything. Full on decorations. So I kind of want to splurge and get her the candle.
Well firstly, she probably keeps more money selling it that way. I’m not sure what Netflix’s total financial involvement is as a backer, but she knows how successful As Ever is now. When it’s time for her to renegotiate, she’s going to make sure she gets a bigger piece of the pie before she expands widely into stores I’m sure.
Also, this guy has really become obsessed with Meghan and Harry in the last 6 months haven’t he? Before I just knew him as the ” Prince William’s friend” guy but either on his Substack or his Daily beast column he’s going full throttle on Harry and Meghan three and four times a week now. Does he blame them for getting kicked out of the group chat?
It’s a grift. He’s earning money from his Substack.
Yep, Substack is Sykes’ income, so he has to keep his deranger fan base happy with anti-Sussex nonsense fed to him by Bulliam, his Eton friends, or unnamed “industry sources,” none of whom have a clue what’s actually going on with Harry or Meghan. Not that the derangers care about veracity.
That’s why Tom has Orwell’s daily two minutes of hate about the Suxxeses, but almost zero coverage of anything Charles or Camilla do. And Tom’s only Earthflop coverage was about Bulliam being incadescent about being upstaged by Charles knighting Beckham. Instead, it’s either the Sussexes (Kim Kardashian’s party pics are a HUUUUUUGE deal!) or Andrew 24/7.
OMG, Tom, get a life. What a waste of Substack space.
It is convenient and easy to order 0nline. Nothing wrong with shopping online
Sykes is overly dramatic over this.
Glad you mentioned the “Bridgerton-themed kitsch”, Kaiser. I was going to point out that there’s a major difference between what Meghan is doing, and Shonda Rimes allowing the Bridgerton name to be slapped on every random bit of crap imaginable.
Looks like Julia Quinn is getting piece of the action too — which is great. Have to love a woman who says “In some ways, portraying a healthy relationship in literature is the most revolutionary thing you can do.”
Bridgerton themed products are merch for fans. That’s why they are being sold at the Netflix store. As Ever is a lifestyle brand that Netflix invested in. Those two things require different marketing. Why is this basic marketing 101 so hard for this Eton educated Royalist journo to understand? Of course he understands the difference but pretends to be outraged. For another marketing reason of his own: rage farming the traffic of Meghan haters and some angry fans to his substack.
From what I can tell, although Netflix is her financial backer, Meghan is making as ever her own, and they’re giving her the freedom to do that, which is a pretty sweet deal. It’s her business, independent of the show, whereas the bridgerton partnership line of products is very different. It’s not trying to be a brand beyond the show. I remember they partnered with Pat McGrath make-up once which was cool. But it feels like two different types of models.
Wow, talk about apples, oranges and outright lies. Bridgerton products are “merch,” as is everything else in the Netflix shop – t-shirts, mugs, hats. The only similar product to As Ever on the whole website is candles, but again merch-type. Of course, As Ever would not be sold through the Netflix shop – it’s a product line unto itself, not a marketing tool to promote a Netflix show.
Amusing that The Royalist substack author pretends to not understand the meaning of ‘target market’ since it’s so niche itself (59,000 unpaid subscribers, with only 1,000 paid subscribers per ‘sidestack.io/directory).
So the tabloids were wrong in their reporting that Meghan’s brand would be sold in Netflix stores which isn’t something that Meghan or Netflix ever said, but somehow that’s a bad sign for Meghan?
Meghan has spoken directly herself about her plans for As ever including wanting to do small retail partnerships initially as As ever expands & wanting As ever to be a masstige brand. She’s never said she wanted the brand in Netflix stores & that As ever exists on its own so that it continues after With Love Meghan. Netflix has said they are a passive partner in her brand so i don’t think the plan has ever been for a direct tie in with Netflix shows etc
If it was meant to be a direct tie in to WLM the products would be called WLM. It’s meant to be a stand alone brand not tacky merch to be sold in Netflix shops.
I bought the 082(6?) Candle and luv it! Each shipment I’ve received so far is packaged carefully and feels thoughtful, like a real present. I’ve been comparing candles – more specifically the containers they are poured in- and this one is ideal for me. I don’t regret splurging. It looks good, smells softly good, and I only need one. I hope sprays or other little luxuries are offered in the future.
Meghan and her team are doing a fantastic job with As Ever, which is why salty pathetic Tom is so frustrated!
Not only are the products wildly successful, thriving through sceptical blind tests including from haters hoping for them to be awful, the entire execution is super-professional, from the packaging design, to the website and all the quirky info it contains, to the Instagram posts and daily links to fan’s own posts.
It’s beautiful, it has a coherent aesthetic, and it works.
Eat your heart out, Dumb Tom!
This Brit’s a fool. An envious, slobbering fool.
AsEver is a success. And it’s Meghan that’s driving that success. Brick & mortar Netflix stores? Maybe, sometime in the future. For now, AsEver is doing just fine in the tony bookstore, Godmothers, thank you very much. Meanwhile, it’s enjoying outstanding success online.
AsEver is thriving because of Meghan’s appeal to that sought-after demographic – “people with disposable income who are not afraid to spend”.
AsEver products are exclusive – only available in the States. The AsEver alcohol products are even more exclusive – only available for purchase in some states. Her product drops have been known to sell out within hours. The price points are in the affordable luxury range for these “people with disposable income who are not afraid to spend”. Meghan has an established reputation for good taste. Thus AsEver’s cachet factor is enviable.
These all contribute to AsEver’s meteoric rise.
Exclusivity, affordable luxury, good taste, enviable cachet.
Bottom line: $UCCE$$
TIL that Netflix has stores, huh.
She IS selling in store. at Godmothers bookshop
The As Ever team has all the geographic data from website orders. They could arrange the same Grandmothers-style pop-up collab with “carriage trade” shops in zip codes where they’re doing good business now, and I would not be surprised to see that from them at some point.
To borrow from Kaiser . Tom sucks is a c-u-next Tuesday. And a creepy. Stalking one at that. Like what the f is his problem? He is becoming more obsessed that piss Morgan or Angela Kelly or Dan wooton to name a few ever were with Harry and especially Meghan and that’s saying something because all those folks are bunny boiler stalking cray cray . I feel like a restraining order against him would not be far off the mark
for the derangers complaining about the candle costs, nymag recommended candles for christmas, most of which are the same cost or more expensive than meghan’s. they honestly make meghan’s look like a bargin as a nice gift, esp as they come wrapped etc.
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-holiday-candles.html
This line is just so disingenuous – “The fact is that, As Ever, and With Love, Meghan have struggled to plant a flag in our consciousness like Bridgerton has…”
Bridgerton and WLM are two totally different shows, two completely different genres with completely different appeal. I happen to enjoy both and I’m sure many do, but its not like if i’m in the mood for bridgerton I’ll think “or maybe WLM instead.”
Anyway it seems like As Ever is doing well, I don’t think Tom Sykes needs to be concerned.
I have a friend that’s in the live Stranger Things show at the Dallas store. The store is not, nor is it marketed, like a tasteful, upscale boutique. It’s a full-on experience, with live shows, music, “theme” food restaurant and NF merch. Doesn’t appear that this compatible with Meghan’s brand and products.
Sykes has been H&M obsessed for like forever. It’s now that he’s become so aggressive with his H&M monetisation on his Substack that people are noticing how deranged this drunk rodent is. He has to get that channel/page going and growing as fast as possible because of royal content competition, so his lies and clownish behaviour are getting more unhinged by the day.
By the way, before working for DaiyBeast, he worked for PageSix. So, this guy has always made a career out of the royal and celeb gossip business. He is not a real journalist, which some people undeservedly seem to credit him for.
But her products are not Netflix products, they’re not based on her show. She has said that they’re separate entities so why are royalists expecting As Ever products to be in Netflix stores? As he mentioned she talked about exploring brick and mortar partnerships in the future but she never talked about any plans for her products to be in Netflix stores. Meghan’s team should stop talking to Sykes because he’s just stirring up unnecessary drama.
Netflix has stores?
They expect a lot from a show and product line that only debuted this year don’t they? I think Meghan is doing great, it’s not a guarantee of success that a line is owned by a celebrity. Just ask Brad Pitt. Anyway, this puts me in the mood for some strawberry spread on a bagel. Yum!
Don’t yell at me, but I actually prefer the strawberry jam to the raspberry.
And As Ever is doing great. Poor Tom Sykes, he’s never created anything but manufactured drama, so he wouldn’t know.
I really like the strawberry too but I haven’t tried the raspberry yet because I also have apricot and orange marmalade in rotation. I like all three but the strawberry definitely stands out. I think Sykes is really trying to stoke more strife and frankly put lies out there because whether or not they admit it, the last few months of Sussex prominence has really rattled them. He treats every Sussex event or endeavor as a singular royal engagement, whether it is going to a fashion show or building a brand. As for AsEver, I think they want to be in sold high end boutique/cooking stores or bigger brick and mortars once they scale up. Remember this business launched last spring so it’s been less than a year. She wants the brand to be independent from Netflix so she can grow it as she sees fit.
“It never was a massive global hit.”
Really? They don’t know that the products are only sold in the U.S.A.?
Dear lord, please let me fail like the Sussexes fail. Please let me have 10 days like the Sussexes’ bad last 10 days.
Are these people really this stupid? It’s her online store, they’re just investors. Stop worrying about them and their business , worry about the lazy left behinds who are sucking the country dry with their long term scam.
When I look at it from a distance, rather than from my vulnerability as a Sussex fan, I wonder what the point of all this nonsense is. I look up at the stars above me, feel the cold of the sea and the air, and realise the importance the Sussexes have for this world. Then I feel good again. They make the world a little bit better. That’s what they do, that’s the purpose we humans have, isn’t it?❣️
Meghan is just getting started. It’ s bizarre to attack a startup in its early years.