NEW YORK — In a field crowded with me-too brands, Prestige Cosmetics is standing out by offering a new line of face makeup for women of all colors.
The move not only burnishes the company’s image with American retailers, but opens many distribution doors abroad, according to Tom Winarick, executive vice president of Prestige. In the U.S., Prestige has upped its footage in chains including Walgreens, Duane Reade and Rite Aid. Abroad, it is getting attention from Boots and Galeries Lafayette.
What retailers single out is that Prestige is able to customize the selection for stores based on the ethnic makeup of the community. For example, Prestige can tailor the colors that go into each store, and also the formulas. Within the 40-stockkeeping-unit collection there are cream to powders, wet to dry, loose and pressed powder and a liquid formula. “Some ethnic groups prefer liquid over powder or vice versa and we can alter the mix right down to the formula,” said Winarick.
Offering products for the growing ranks of black, Hispanic and Asian women is a major edict for mass market retailers. Walgreens in particular is singled out as a chain with a firm grasp on who shops what stores.
But Prestige’s wide array of products for women of color has assisted in international expansion, too. Earlier this year, Boots installed Prestige in many of its stores and, based on its success, the number of doors has increased. In Paris, Galeries Lafayette took on Prestige to serve its multicultural consumers. Winarick said the same is happening in other countries around the world.
Prestige is planning to get the new foundations in the hands of more women, thanks to sampling driven by Internet response and in-store trials. Although there are many lines of beauty products aimed at black or Hispanic women, only one other mass market brand — Milani — is multicultural. With Prestige priced at $6.95, the line offers a slightly higher ticket choice versus Milani’s value positioning.
The packaging for the foundations is very upscale and a new fixture that complements the stylish design is being rolled out. The display is described as a “frosted face plate that floats on cube fixturing.”
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Adding face products, said Winarick, was a logical extension to Prestige’s business, which has grown by double digits over the past few years, thanks to the success of its core pencils, lip glosses and especially bronzers that have been “huge” for Prestige.
As prices go higher in drug, food and mass market doors, retailers need better ways to protect against theft. This is especially the case for prestige fragrances and upscale skin care. Checkpoint Systems Inc. announced earlier this week that it has several new solutions to put antitheft tags onto beauty products.
The options include Secure Rings, WashAway Labels, SecureMark & Authentication, Anti-Diversion Solutions and Super Tuff Tag. These tags could help companies that have encountered problems ticketing beauty products.
“Great strides have been made over the past decade to better equip retailers in the war against shrink, but despite advances in the available antishrink technology, the inescapable conclusion is that professional thieves have grown more adept at finding ways to beat the systems,” said Theo Bielowicz, product manager of Checkpoint Systems.
He added that the new tags make it more difficult for thieves. The Secure Ring, for example, helps reduce the practice of label switching. The WashAway label eliminates the problem of residue from sticky tags. SecureMark uses special links and designs or bar-coded point-of-purchase labels to prevent counterfeit ticketing and labeling, including price editing. The Anti-Diversion Solution helps retailers guard against diverted inventory, employee theft, professional shoplifting groups and return fraud. Products with Checkpoint’s Anti-Diversion labels allow for loss-prevention associates to easily identify products being sold on the black market that were meant for sale at a store location. Finally, there is the Super Tuff Tag that eliminates the need for special plastic pouches and ties to attach the label to the merchandise. The Super Tuff Tag also reduces the labor and other costs associated with reprinting or reapplying tags and standardizing merchandise presentations. These tags can prevent ticket-swiping schemes used by criminals by making it extremely difficult to take tags off merchandise without purchasing the item.