Does your beauty store target Tweens? Recently, The NPD Group (npd.com), a leading provider of consumer and retail information, released a fascinating report on girls between the ages of 8 and 12, stating that they may use beauty products in more than two dozen categories.

      Nearly 60% of Tweens told NPD that they’ve started using fragrances/body sprays. More than 5 out of 10 girls said that they’ve used skincare products. And about 4 out of 10 reported having used cosmetics, with lip gloss an important product.

      The Tween demographic represents about $500 million in annual spending on beauty products, according to Karen Grant, vice president and senior beauty industry analyst at The NPD Group. Are you missing out on it?

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

Because beauty stores don’t usually get a lot of respect in the consumer press, I was shocked Friday when I saw this on the cover of the June Allure: Secret Beauty Finds Where the Hair & Makeup Pros Shop. And there on page 176 is “Secrets & Buys,” a feature story by contributing editor Rory Evans about how beauty stores “carry cult brands and unique products you can’t find at the department or drugstore.”

There are great mentions in the article for, among others, Sally Beauty Supply (sallybeauty.com), ULTA (ulta.com), BeautyFirst (beautyfirst.com), GBS The Beauty Store (gbsbeauty.com), Bravco Beauty Centre (bravcobeauty.com) and Larchmont Beauty Center (larchmontbeauty.com). And there are also some fabulous endorsements in the story of beauty stores everywhere, including these quotes and comments:

• “The people who work at these places tend to be very knowledgeable about how to use what they’re selling.”
• “Unlike your local drugstore, which may have, at most, one aisle for hair care, these stores are almost entirely dedicated to it.”
• “These stores sell every kind of clip and ponytail holder you can think of.”
• The Crayola 64-pack has nothing on the eye-pencil selection at beauty-supply stores.
• It’s not that beauty-supply stores carry glitter–it’s that they carry every conceivable shade.

Not everything in beauty stores, notes the piece, is perfect. But overall, it’s an excellent review. So, if you don’t subscribe to Allure (allure.com), buy a copy of the issue at a local newsstand. It’ll make you smile.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

Beauty store owners and managers, and pro beauty distributors, mark your 2009 calendar for an important week in Las Vegas: The Western Buying Conference (WBC) (westernbuyingconference@verizon.net) is moving to a new venue, Bally’s Hotel and Convention Center, and will take place on Thursday, Jan. 15, and Friday, Jan. 16. What’s more, Beauty Expo USA (beautyexpousa.com, btexpousa@yahoo.com, 314.426.6333, 314.426.6334) is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 12, and Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the Riviera Hotel & Casino Hotel Convention Center.

You don’t want to miss these two important business-to-business trade shows. The WBC, which previously took place at the Las Vegas Hilton & Convention Center, is held by manufacturers reps and their manufacturers, and is fast becoming a smaller-scale version of a Cosmoprof North America-like event. Beauty Expo, which is one of the top events for ordering multicultural products, is returning to Las Vegas after being held this year at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

This multi-event, “beauty week ’09 kickoff” wasn’t intentional. Recently, each of the shows’ organizers told me about their plans, and I don’t think they knew about each other’s dates and locations. It’ll be the 24th annual WBC and the 12th Beauty Expo. Actually, I’m all for these shows to be co-located. But if they can’t be, it’s great to see them scheduled this way.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

I attended the 2008 conference of the International SalonSpa Business Network (salonspanetwork.org) in Indian Wells, CA, on Sunday and Monday, and was impressed with this program for owners and managers of multi-unit salons and spas. These professionals received great networking opportunities with their peers across North America, as well as exposure to the wide variety of manufacturers that were there.

      Executives from major salon-store players, such as BeautyFirst (beautyfirst.com), Chatters Canada (chatters.ca) and ULTA (ulta.com), were present. It was also nice to see regional salon-store chain participation at this annual event. This newly rebranded industry association (formerly the International Chain Salon Association) has a lot to offer three-or-more-unit salon-store operations—and it recently created an associate membership level that includes such businesses with just two units. So, we can expect to see even more owners and managers from regional salon-store chains at ISBN’s 2009 conference on May 31-June 2 at The Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island in Florida. For details about the ’09 conference, contact director of business development Margie Melaniphy, margiemelaniphy@hotmail.com, 866.444.4272.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc