Is there a market for Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle brand?

The Duchess of Sussex is getting into the home and lifestyle business through a new brand called American Riviera Orchard.

People magazine reported that a trademark application shows the company “plans to sell tableware, drinkware including decanters, kitchen linens and edible treats such as jellies, jams, marmalade and spreads,” along with cookbooks. The company launched an Instagram page and a website with a waitlist where you can sign up to receive updates.

The venture is familiar territory for Markle. A former actress, she previously had a lifestyle blog called The Tig in which she would post recipes and travel guides, along with questionnaires put to other entertainment figures. Markle shuttered the blog the year she and Britain’s Prince Harry announced their engagement, although a source told People the shutdown was unrelated to the royal relationship.

It was a smart decision for American Riviera Orchard to first create a sign-up list instead of opening right away, said Christine Kowalczyk, an associate professor of marketing and supply chain management at the East Carolina University College of Business. People want to know more about the brand, and Markle can now tease products to prospective customers, generating buzz, Kowalczyk explained.

The experts we spoke to all think there is indeed a market for Markle’s products.

Mary Caravella, an associate professor in residence at the University of Connecticut School of Business, said Markle is selling in a broad category whose consumers have “widely different tastes.”

That category can be hard to define, given the assortment of products Markle is selling, but Caravella said she would place them in homeware and gourmet food. Put another way: “If you think about going to a tourist location, inevitably there’s a store that has a curated collection just like this,” Caravella said.

Kowalczyk said more people have been spending time in their homes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has helped lifestyle brands flourish and may boost the appeal of Markle’s products.

A 2023 survey found that almost two-thirds of Americans had a “greater desire” to stay at home compared to pre-pandemic times, with more homeowners remodeling their kitchens and investing in outdoor living spaces.