NEW YORK — It may have the ring of a Guy Ritchie film, but a new men’s hair care brand called Lock Stock & Barrel Grooming wasn’t inspired by a motion picture.
Salon proprietor Mark Snowdon, who was a sniper commando in the British Royal Marines, simply wanted the name to convey a masculine air. Snowdon and Rachel Ferrie — his former wife and current business partner — launched the brand in the U.K. last fall.
Now, they have planned a U.S. launch of the nine-item shampoo, conditioner and styling aid assortment this spring. “We saw there was a huge opening” in the men’s market, Ferrie contended, so “we spent the last several years developing a men’s range.”
Ferrie, who began working at a salon at age 14, got Snowdon into the hair business. In 1985, they opened a salon in Birmingham, England — and eventually operated four salons there.
They sold the salon business and launched a women’s hair care brand in Europe in the early Nineties called Fred.
Their newest venture, Lock Stock & Barrel, is carried at U.K. salons, Harvey Nichols locations in Dublin and Manchester, Liberty of London and at mankind.co.uk.
Ferrie said Lock Stock & Barrel is selling better than expected, noting that Harvey Nichols is “tuning into men’s grooming. They’ve set up areas for men to go into and get moisturizers.”
Ferrie came to the U.S. two years ago to set up Charles Aston, a Boca Raton, Fla., distribution company for Lock Stock & Barrel in the U.S. As the collection was developed over the past few years, Ferrie researched differences in the U.K. and U.S. markets, namely the major role of distributors in the U.S. salon market.
Ferrie’s U.S. strategy for Lock Stock & Barrel is for the brand to be carried at salons as well as upscale specialty stores. She is negotiating with several major U.S. salon distributors, as well as with high-end specialty and department store chains.
“Some guys don’t want to buy [products] in a salon,” she said, and others “want a grooming area especially for them.”
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The brand is now available in the U.S. at groomingmenusa.com, and Ferrie expects to enter U.S. salons and retailers as early as April. If all goes well, she said Lock Stock & Barrel could be carried in as many as 5,000 points of sale in the U.S. by yearend, with wholesale volume of $7 million to $8 million.
The Lock Stock & Barrel assortment features 8.45-oz. shampoos and treatments and 2.5-oz. styling aids. The line includes Soak moisturizing shampoo, $18; Lock Stock White moisturizing conditioner, $17; Big It Up thickening hair wash, $19.50, and Q leave-in treatment spray, $20. Styling aids include 85 Karats Grooming Clay, $20; The Daddy Classic Wax, $18.75; The Gooch Hair Gum, $18.45; Pucka Grooming Crème, $16.75, and Large It Power Gel, $20.50.
Ferrie has plans to expand Lock Stock & Barrel to Canada. In Europe, Snowdon plans to roll out the brand to Scandinavia in the fall. Distribution in France, Italy and Germany is planned within the next 12 months.
Ferrie acknowledged a number of new Lock Stock & Barrel products are being developed, including back bar items, but remained mum about details. However, the brand is said to be eyeing getting into hair color.