BOSTON — This spring, mega-manufacturers will tighten their hold on the mass market by rolling out a slew of new collections, forcing niche players to put many of their plans on hold, said executives attending ECRM’s Efficient Program Planning Sessions here this week. And while smaller players are busy shifting gears, many are waiting for what they anticipate will be a shakeout of new entries along the beauty wall.
For retailers, the last year has been a whirlwind of change as they worked to accommodate new lines, such as Revlon’s Vital Radiance and HIP High Intensity Pigments from L’Oréal Paris.
“We haven’t seen new to this extent in years,” said Jerry Kuske, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Katz Group.
Privately, retailers expressed concern whether all the launches would justify their space allocation, especially since high-profile debuts, like Olay Cosmetics, have failed to attract shoppers in the past.
Smaller manufacturers, who made up a significant portion of the show’s attendees, bemoaned the muscle that large companies have with retail chain’s top management, who can then dictate to their beauty buyers what lines to add to the mix. Small suppliers, on the other hand, say they must rely on originality and one-on-one meetings to capture buyers’ attention.
“The industry needs new innovation,” said Gary Schofield, president of the fledgling Smart Brands Inc. “The big players are about launching and spending.”
Smart Brands introduced retailers to its refreshed Tru line, now called So Divine by Tru. Described as “Benefit Cosmetics meets Hard Candy,” Tru is designed to be flirty and sexy.
Lisa Yarnell, president of Jane Cosmetics, said the company’s ramped-up product pipeline has helped the brand recoup distribution that Jane had lost over the years under different management. Yarnell aims to continue to build the business with a broad array of new items, including new lip and eye treatment products, such as LipFit balm and eye brighteners. The Jane products fit neatly into a compact designed to hold three items, and customers can receive the compact via a mail-in coupon. Later this year, Jane also will introduce a tinted moisturizer called Nearly Foundation with SPF 30 and a gel bronzer, Jane Summer Glow. Both items are oil-free and will sell for $4.99 each.
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Prestige Cosmetics unveiled an in-store display, featuring opalescent green accents and curved shelving reminiscent of Clinique. The company hopes the new display will elevate its look in stores.
Faced with slim chances of achieving peg wall space, many companies took a promotional tactic.
Newcomer Pantina, for instance, is offering retailers seasonal displays. And while Pantina’s core line is housed in brown and blue packaging, the company will introduce new colors for each seasonal collection. For example, its fall line is outfitted in purple and teal compacts. Products in the collection include Brow Whiz, a brow pencil and brow mascara in one; 2-Tone Lashes, a dual-ended mascara with black pigment on one end and a color pigment on the other, and a kabuki bronzer/blush brush. Patina also will enter the treatments category this year with Hide and Seek Moisturizer, a product meant to build on the success of its tinted moisturizer, and Wake Up Concealer, which is said to contain the same active ingredient as the antiwrinkle cream StriVectin-SD.
Like Pantina, Arissa has also spent the last year trying to make inroads into the mass market. The cosmetics brand, which prides itself in mimicking Nars’ soft-touch black packaging, recently changed its name to Arissa By Makeup Professionals. Its products range in price from $3.99 to $6.99 with most retailing for $3.99 each. Arissa’s vice president of national sales, Charles Yu, said the brand has gained distribution at Wal-Mart Canada, Walgreens and on Drugstore.com. The company has updated its 2006 wall display with full-sized product testers.
“We’ve brought the whole department store counter down to mass,” said Yu.
Several manufacturers at the show unveiled blockbuster makeup kits loaded with product — a business currently dominated by Markwins International. Markwins, however, plans to shift gears by introducing better-quality kits with fewer cosmetics inside. The company also will leverage expertise of its cosmetics division, Markwins North America, to determine which makeup shades to include inside the kits. “We are looking for badge value,” said Shawn Haynes, senior vice president of marketing for Markwins, referring to the more upscale-looking kits.
Markwins North America is gearing up to expand Wet ‘n’ Wild’s Fresh Face Skincare line. The brand also is introducing more products inspired by prestige market trends, such as Pout Protector and Mega Plump lip gloss. The company also showed cosmetics bags from its SoHo line. Given the flurry of activity along the cosmetics wall, the company has delayed plans to introduce a SoHo cosmetics collection.