NEW YORK — Fledgling skin care marketer Clark’s Botanicals is set to expand its product assortment and distribution network this year.
The brand, which was founded by Harold Chandler Clark, MD, and his son, Francesco, in Bronxville, N.Y., two years ago, will introduce two new products this spring. The firm is also targeting upscale retail stores and spas in a strategy to grow distribution.
“We’re more focused on getting it into retail boutiques and high-end stores,” said Francesco Clark, president of the brand, who noted he’s in discussions with specialty retailers on both coasts and is aiming to get the brand into a total of 30 doors this year.
The brand will introduce SPF 25 Green Tea Body Splash, at $25 for 4 oz., next month, as well as Youth Serum, a 1.7-oz. treatment item for $120, in June.
Youth Serum, whose key ingredient is hyaluronic acid, is designed to prolong the effects of Botox and collagen treatments.
“It makes them last twice as long,” Clark claimed, adding research has indicated the formulation reduced wrinkles by 50 percent in the first five weeks, with “continued improvement” for 80 days.
Clark’s Botanicals was repackaged late last year: Simple black-and-white graphics on opaque bottles gave way to clear containers with black graphics for “more of a pharmacy feel,” said Clark.
The brand evolved from product formulations that Harold Clark — who is an internist practicing traditional and homeopathic medicine — gave to his patients who were undergoing chemotherapy and experiencing irritation with products they were already using.
The nearly 30 products in the full Clark’s Botanicals assortment range in price from $20 for the 4-oz. Vitamin C Hydrating Spray and the 4-oz. Aqua Guard Sunblock SPF 30 to $85 for the Ultra Firming Marine Cream. Generally, the line, which features cleansers, moisturizers, sunblocks, masks and serums, is designed to address antiaging, moisturization and acne.
Industry sources estimate the brand could reach the $250,000 mark in revenues by yearend. Distribution now includes independent operations like French Rituals, a day spa in Doylestown, Penn.; Deacon’s Bench in Littleton, N.H.; The Party Studio in Miami, and clarksbotanicals.com.
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After working as a computer programmer in Chicago, Francesco Clark moved to New York in 2000 and worked at Mademoiselle magazine as assistant to the special projects director. He then moved to Harper’s Bazaar, where he worked in the fashion department.
In 2002, he sustained a spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. It’s because of this he plans to contribute a portion of Clark’s Botanicals’ profits to the Spinal Cord Injury Project at Rutgers University.
He said he is also considering aiding “one or two other” organizations that conduct spinal cord research.