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58 October 2016 | beautystorebusiness.com News NY NOW FEATURES A RETAIL DESIGN CHALLENGE WITH HGTV'S MEG CASWELL NY NOW, the Market for Home, Lifestyle + Gift, launched its inaugural Retail Design Challenge, hosted by HGTV designer Meg Caswell, during NY NOW summer 2016 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, August 20 through 24. The new program allowed NY NOW attendees to showcase their retail design skills by submitting photos of their own store designs for a chance to win prizes, including the opportunity to participate in an exclusive breakfast with Caswell herself. "We're so happy to be working with Meg Caswell on this exciting new program that spotlights the beautiful and unique design work done by NY NOW buyers and retailers," said Jill Campbell, vice president of marketing for Emerald Expositions. "Meg is the perfect companion for this program, not only for her retail design experience, but also for her passion to work with clients to uncover their true design profiles and deliver an experience that ultimately tells their unique stories." NY NOW attendees were able to vote on their favorite designs for the chance to win prizes. The top 25 entries were invited to attend an exclusive opportunity at the NY NOW summer 2016 market to meet Caswell during a break- fast session where she shared her retail design secrets to success. Caswell then chose three grand prize winners to receive gift cards that could be used for show floor purchases. The prizes were as follows: Runner's up: Twenty five finalists received an exclusive breakfast and education session with HGTV Design Star winner and host Meg Caswell in NYC Grand-prize winners: Five voters received $100 American Express Gift Cards 3 Design Challenge winners received: • First place - $1,500 American Express Gift card • Second place - $1,000 American Express Gift Card • Third place - $500 American Express Gift Card "I am thrilled to partner with one of the most exciting home and gift markets in the country for this new program," said Caswell. "As a store owner myself, I understand the challenge that retailers face when designing their store- fronts. They want to create an experience that speaks to their customers while still telling their own personal story, and I think it is great that NY NOW is recognizing this skill with the Retail Design Challenge." UNILEVER ACQUIRES DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB Unilever, a supplier of food, home and personal-care products, is set to purchase men's grooming brand Dollar Shave Club. Terms of the transaction were not dis- closed, though Michael Dubin is expected to continue to serve as CEO of DSC. DSC, headquartered in Venice, Califor- nia, was founded in 2012. Since inception, it has worked to transform the shaving category through its lifestyle brand, with 3.2 million members, and is on track to exceed $200 million in 2016. "DSC couldn't be happier to have the world's most innovative and progressive consumer-product company in our corner," said Dubin, founder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club. "We have long admired Uni- lever's purpose-driven business leadership, and its category expertise is unmatched. We are excited to be part of the family." With a product and brand range that extends far beyond shaving, including Wanderer men's personal wash products, Big Cloud men's skincare products, Boogies hairstyling products and One Wipe Char- lies daily wipes, Dollar Shave Club brings to Unilever's personal-care category a unique male grooming perspective. "Dollar Shave Club is an innovative and disruptive male-grooming brand with incredibly deep connections to its diverse and highly engaged consumers," said Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America. "In addition to its unique consumer and data insights, Dollar Shave Club is the category leader in its direct- to-consumer space. We plan to leverage the global strength of Unilever to support Dollar Shave Club in achieving its full potential in terms of offering and reach." SHAVE TIME. SHAVE MONEY. Images courtesy of NY NOW design challenge (top left) and Dollar Shave Club (top right). MEMEBOX RAISES $66 MILLION FOR CONTINUED EXPANSION Beauty ecommerce business Memebox has raised $66 million to help fund its global expan- sion through investors, including Formation 8, Goodwater Capital and Pejman Mar Ventures, according to news reports. The San Francisco-based cosmetics company, which sells Korean beauty products, launched in Korea in 2012—initially supported by Y Combinator, which provides seed funding for startups. Since its debut, the brand has amassed massive appeal in just four years, thanks to the popularity of Korean beauty products and its digital marketing strategy. Its Facebook videos alone have received 70 million views just this year, as reported in the San Francisco Business Times. Last year, Memebox raised $29.35 million in funding from a host of investors, including: Formation 8, Goodwater Capital, Pejman Mar Ventures, among others. The funding was sought to expand its mobile and ecommerce offerings to China, Korea and the United States. Memebox is considered the world's largest online Korean beauty store, and has already introduced its own data-driven, private-label cosmetics brand in 2014. It also boasts mobile apps for its Chinese, Korean and U.S. markets. In 2015, it was said to have experienced 400% year-over-year growth, with nearly 1 million app downloads.