NEW YORK — Two-year-old men’s grooming brand Amenity is being completely overhauled, a move that includes a relaunch of its parent company and a completely new product assortment that’s slated to be introduced Oct. 1.
Dwight Schultheis, who originally founded Amenity Inc. in May 2004, co-founded Amenity LLC here in March with Kimberly Pecoraro, a 10-year veteran of skin care brand Peter Thomas Roth.
“The whole repositioning is to make this a clinical men’s grooming brand,” said Schultheis, who contended the new, six-item collection is designed to be an “all-in-one solution for men’s skin care.”
The new products contain a proprietary ingredient called Pro-Form 6, a complex that features willow bark extract to help reduce razor bumps, ingrown hairs, excess sebum production, clogged pores, signs of aging and redness. Pro-Form 6 also includes rutin to help even skin tone and reduce redness; provitamin B5 panthenol to condition the skin; bisabolol to soothe; hyaluronic acid to moisturize, and liposomal vitamins A, C and E to help prevent signs of aging and to reenergize.
The new line will include Gel Face Cleanser, $27 for 3.25 oz.; Shave Cream, $25 for 5.5 oz.; After Shave & Face Moisturizer, $37 for 3.25 oz.; Anti-Breakout Gel, $28 for 0.25 oz.; The Balm, $35 for 5.5 oz., and Foot Spray, $32 for 6.5 oz. The Balm is an intensive moisturizer for areas like the elbows and knees, while the foot spray is designed to keep feet dry and odor-, bacteria- and fungus-free. Anti-Breakout Gel is a spot treatment designed to fight acne and razor bumps. A $250 gift set featuring all the products will bow Nov. 1.
Schultheis and Pecoraro consulted with a cadre of doctors — including two plastic surgeons and “a group of” dermatologists — and two biochemists when developing the new Amenity assortment over the span of about a year.
At about $30, the average price of the new Amenity products is higher than the average price of the original products ($21), which will be phased out by Sept. 1. Glass bottles and jars will give way to plastic, airless pumps and tubes.
While the original Amenity line is carried in about 35 doors, including Barneys New York, Sports Club L.A. and independent stores, Pecoraro cited plans to expand the brand’s distribution to 200 doors. That number is projected to include international points of sale in markets like the U.K., Europe, Asia and Canada by the end of next year. Amenity is eyeing retailers like Space NK in the U.K. and Nue Blue Eriu in Ireland.
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With the new-look Amenity business, Schultheis and Pecoraro are hoping to garner $1 million in first-year retail sales. A projected five-year plan calls for sales of $2.5 million by the second year, as much as $5 million for the third year and sales of between $13 and $15 million by 2011.
Cologne use is down among guys in their teens as they are drawn to the mass market by lower-priced body sprays, according to the NPD Group’s Men’s FragranceTrack 2006 study. The number of 13- to 17-year-old cologne users was down 18 percent in one year, according to the survey, which found that 59 percent of guys 13 to 15 years old said they wear cologne, down from 81 percent last year. Sixty-eight percent of 16- to 17-year-old guys said they wear cologne, down from 80 percent in 2005.
“The so-called ‘Axe Effect’ is being seen across the men’s fragrance industry,” said NPD Group’s senior beauty industry analyst, Karen Grant, referring to Unilever’s deodorant/body spray brand. “Body spray products like Axe and Tag are attracting the younger market with their creative advertising and low price points of around $5.” The study found that 80 percent of 25- to 44-year-old men — the “primary age group that prestige fragrances target” — wear fragrances. Added Grant, “For the prestige fragrance industry, I think education is a key component. It’s important for companies to get their message across to younger consumers to come into the marketplace.”
The men’s prestige fragrance category amounted to nearly $1 billion in 2005, growing by 5 percent over 2004. In contrast, the women’s category grew by 2 percent. New fragrances accounted for about $198 million of the men’s category last year, up from $125 million in the prior year.