SHL Group

What SHL Group does

SHL Group is a founder-operated strategic consultancy established in 2010 by Susan Hirsch Lerner and headquartered in New York City. The firm delivers a unified suite of professional services — Brand Management + Positioning, Sales Management, Merchandising Strategy, Strategic Planning, and Training + Coaching — to apparel, fitness, wellness, sustainability, and B2C brands. Named clients visible on the company's website include Tory Burch, Juicy Couture, Hotmamas, Storey, and Manner, spanning enterprise and mid-market segments. There is no proprietary technology platform; all deliverables are people-based strategic advisory work.

The consultancy monetizes through professional services fees generated via direct consulting engagements, workshops, and ongoing advisory relationships. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; engagements are quote-based and scoped to client requirements. The business has no institutional funding, no disclosed parent company, and no identified employees beyond the founder.

Susan Hirsch Lerner is the sole management figure and the firm's primary delivery asset. Her 15-year tenure at Lord & Taylor and her documented track record of scaling Juicy Couture's kids' division from $8M to $33M in four years form the entirety of the firm's external market positioning. Operating geographies beyond the New York headquarters are not disclosed, and headcount outside the founder is not documented in available materials.

Name

SHL Group

Legal name

Susan H. Lerner

Website

https://shlgrp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SHL Group is a founder-operated New York strategic consultancy providing brand management, sales, merchandising, planning, and coaching services to apparel, fitness, wellness, sustainability, and B2C brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand & Management Consulting Services

NAICS

Other Management Consulting Services (541618), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Consulting, Audits & Research (Brand Health, Equity, Competitive) (BPAFAEAJ)

Keywords

• Strategic consulting services
• Brand management consulting
• Merchandising strategy services
• Apparel brand consulting
• Sales management advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: Professional consulting fees generated through strategic brand management, sales management, merchandising strategy, strategic planning, and training/coaching engagements. Revenue is derived from client projects and ongoing advisory relationships in the apparel, fitness, and wellness industries.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

SHL Group is a boutique strategic consultancy that helps apparel, fitness, wellness, and B2C brands drive profit through brand positioning, sales management, merchandising strategy, strategic planning, and leadership training/coaching. Engagements combine competitive analysis, pricing/promotion/distribution strategy, and hands-on coaching to empower internal teams and expand market share.

Product overview

SHL Group is a strategic consultancy founded in 2010 that offers a unified suite of professional services. The firm provides Brand Management + Positioning, Sales Management, Merchandising Strategy, Strategic Planning, and Training + Coaching services. The company serves clients across the apparel, fitness, wellness, and B2C sectors, helping them drive profits through dynamic product placement and creative marketing tactics while engaging internal resources and empowering talent.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Management + Positioning Strategic consulting service that positions clients' brands as distinct and best-in-class through competitive analysis, pricing, promotions, and distribution strategies to retain and expand market share in a competitive marketplace. Targeted at apparel, fitness, wellness, and B2C brand leaders.
• Sales Management Consulting service that facilitates internal collaboration, creates on-point brand messaging, equips sales teams with the right tools and processes, and integrates customer feedback to drive sales performance. Targeted at apparel and consumer brand leadership.
• Merchandising Strategy Strategic guidance for design and merchandising teams to build product collections aligned with brand positioning, informed by competitive analysis and market research, including brand expansion and modification recommendations tailored to target customers.
• Strategic Planning Future-oriented planning service that identifies business needs, creates actionable strategic plans, and guides companies to new levels of growth and success using the firm's industry experience and business acumen.
• Training + Coaching Leadership development service that helps teams understand motivating factors, builds ownership and accountability, and drives extraordinary productivity and results by combining the firm's leadership skills with each client's team dynamics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Built Juicy Couture kids' division from $8M to $33M in 4 years

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Moving Brands: Moving Brands is a boutique, founder-influenced brand and experience consultancy delivering brand strategy, identity, and design for consumer clients. It is comparable to SHL Group as a smaller, design-led strategic consultancy working with consumer and lifestyle brands.
• Siegel+Gale: Siegel+Gale is a boutique global brand strategy and design consultancy that simplifies brands and drives customer loyalty. It is directly comparable to SHL Group as a boutique firm offering brand positioning, strategy, and customer-experience advisory services to enterprise clients.
• The Doneger Group: The Doneger Group is an apparel and consumer-lifestyle consultancy providing market research, brand strategy, and merchandising insights to fashion brands. It is highly comparable to SHL Group in serving apparel clients with strategy and merchandising advisory services.

Broad incumbents

• Lippincott: Lippincott is a long-established brand strategy consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients across industries. It competes with SHL Group in the brand positioning and corporate identity space but operates at significantly larger scale with a broader portfolio of services.
• Prophet: Prophet is a brand and growth strategy consultancy advising clients on customer experience, innovation, and brand-led transformation. It competes with SHL Group in the brand strategy space, particularly for consumer brands, but with a deeper bench and broader industry coverage.
• Interbrand: Interbrand is a global brand consultancy offering brand strategy, naming, identity, and valuation services across consumer and B2B. It overlaps with SHL Group on brand positioning and competitive analysis for apparel/lifestyle clients, but operates at much greater scale and geographic breadth.
• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch is a global brand consulting and design firm specializing in brand identity, experience, and transformation. It is a broader incumbent comparable to SHL Group in the brand positioning and strategy domain, especially for consumer and apparel clients.

Emerging players

• Red Antler: Red Antler is a brand strategy and creative agency that builds brands for direct-to-consumer and emerging companies. While focused on newer DTC brands rather than legacy apparel, it overlaps with SHL Group on brand positioning, naming, and go-to-market strategy for consumer-facing clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shlgroupllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SHL Group