Beauty Store Business

AUG 2015

For beauty business news, beauty store owners turn to Beauty Store Business. Beauty business trends, beauty business profiles and more!

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28 August 2015 | beautystorebusiness.com Growing up, I worked for my parents to put myself through college and support them. But when I decided to do this profession on my own, I started my own Beauty Collection location. What were your early experiences when you started your company? And how has the business grown since then? I opened my first store in Calabasas, California, in 1998. That was my first venture into the prestige beauty-retail business. I think I was prepared well from growing up in the industry, but I wanted to define my own vision, then work on implementing that vision. That was a learning curve for me, trying to figure out how to fulfill my vision of changing the world of beauty retail. I wanted to create a one-stop des- tination for our customers, a place where they could have a great experi- ence, where they could come in and our staff could help them make educated and informed decisions regarding their beauty needs. Trying to figure out how to create a consistent experience for the customer was the biggest challenge— and still is a challenge! Now, we have four locations and are working on two new locations com- ing up in the next few months. We've expanded our retail footprint, but we have also grown in the digital world to become an omnichannel business. Our current locations are all in South- ern California: Calabasas, Malibu, West Hollywood and Newport Beach. The next two will also be in the greater Los Angeles area, but we haven't disclosed the exact locations yet. How would you describe your business? Beauty Collection is a prestige-beauty retailer. Our goal is to create an experience for customers to find educated solutions for their beauty needs from head to toe. I think one of our strongest competitive advantages is our product selection. We've been able to create a reputation as being a leader in the prestige beauty-retail business in Southern California. As a result, we've been able to attract great and innovative brands—both from the salon industry and the prestige- beauty industry. We represent brands that are sold through luxury salons and spas— such as Moroccanoil and Dermalogica—as well as brands you find in prestige- or luxury-retail stores, such as Smashbox or Kate Somerville. We grow a relationship with customers at the store level with our employees as customers' trusted advisers. The experi- ence we provide is based on that relation- ship, so we work hard to build a relationship with all of our clients. How do you anticipate and address global beauty trends through your product selection? We have to listen to our customers. We utilize social media—where we solicit feedback from customers—and are con- stantly traveling to trade shows. We attend trade shows on an annual basis so we can check out new prod- ucts. Recently, we went to Premiere Orlando—one of the largest professional- beauty trade shows in the country. This July we will once again attend Cosmoprof North America, and we attend Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna every few years. At Cosmoprof North America we've been part of the Discover Beauty program for a few years as a premier beauty retailer. This is an opportunity for us to discover brands that are coming to market or trying to penetrate the U.S. market. It really gives us a chance to be a leader in innovation and incubate new products that are coming out, so Discover Beauty is a great buying opportunity. The ISPA [International SPA Associa- tion] Conference & Expo is another we attend on a consistent basis. We like to gain knowledge about the latest products to try to stay ahead of the curve. We are also very active in the industry. As a board member of the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors, I network with some of the leading manu- facturers in the industry so I can be in the know about innovative products that will be in the market. I have been part of the board of ICMAD for the last two years; I'm the only beauty retailer on the board. I've been involved as a member as part of my professional development and love to partner with organizations that help support the beauty industry, while I'm learning more and helping to lead the industry. It has been a great experience. Dr. Robb Akridge of Clarisonic/L'Oréal Luxury Division is chairman of the board of ICMAD, and has had a great first year. Also, as Cosmetic Executive Women members, we are in constant conversation with industry leaders regarding trends. "Two new locations will be in the greater Los Angeles area, but we haven't disclosed the exact locations yet." All images courtesy of Beauty Collection

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