Attention, beauty store buyers and beauty product distributors: You can register to attend Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, on March 11-14 for free until Feb. 5.

NPEW 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center will have more than 1,700 exhibiting companies showcasing products in many categories, including health and beauty.

To register and for more information about the show, click here. Or call 866.458.4935 in the United States, 303.390.1776 elsewhere.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

Would you sell an at-home product to consumers knowing that it doesn’t accomplish what it’s promoted to do? That’s what stuck in my mind after reading an article in Monday’s Los Angeles Times health section using one example: ionic footbaths that claim to remove toxins.

As a trade beauty editor, a Type 2 diabetic and a strong believer in natural products, I see these footbaths all the time—and have even skeptically tried them. You know, you soak your feet in them for a while, and then murky, disgusting brown stuff starts twirling around in the water around your feet. Have I felt better? Yes. Did it do what it was supposed to do? Honestly, I never knew.

I’ve even used a closely related cousin: the foot patches to be used while you sleep. Boy, were my patches dirty in the morning. (My dog Spirie was very interested in them too!)

And I’m told by Beauty Store Business managing editor Shelley Moench-Kelly—who doubles as our magazine’s lead products editor—that she has now seen another derivative of all this: hand patches. I expect that our staff will see some brands, likely from China or somewhere in Asia, at Natural Products Expo West 2010 on March 11-14 inside the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

The excellent piece by Chris Woolston in my local daily—one of the best newspapers in the world—has a deck that states: “Users say they draw poisons out of the body and even promote weight loss. Scientists say that’s bunk.” Read it by clicking here.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

Retailers today must rethink how they use store design to drive traffic and boost sales in brick-and-mortars. That’s what a veteran store-design consultant emphasized on Sunday at The Power of Retail Design panel during the National Retail Federation’s 99th Annual Convention and EXPO in New York City.

“Shoppers are redefining how the game is played,” stated Joseph Bona, president of the retail division at CBX, which exhibited in the show’s DESiGN STUDiO for Store Design and Visual Merchandising. “Yes, they still go to brick-and-mortars. But they are taking full advantage of high-tech tools that are powering up and evolving at a blistering pace. This puts the onus on designers to create extraordinarily compelling in-store experiences that are fully integrated with retailers’ brand identities, operational capabilities and the fast-changing behaviors and preferences of their core customers.

“All of us in branding and design should keep in mind that shoppers today demand authentic and transparent messaging as never before,” added Bona. “It’s a bit of a backlash in the wake of the housing collapse, Wall Street bailouts and trends like greenwashing.”

Store design should be about the customer experience rather than an abstract reflection of ethereal ideas about the brand, he noted. “Pressure is being created on all fronts–from traditional online shopping to retail-focused iPhone apps to the Amazon.com Kindle and who knows what else in the future,” he said. “Today, store design is all about the end user: ‘How do we communicate from the exterior? How do people interact with and within the space? How do we communicate the point-of-difference we offer?’ Self-referential branding with an interior focus is a thing of the past.”

See you next Wednesday,
Marc

If you’re planning to attend the National Retail Federation’s 99th Annual Convention and EXPO (800.673.4692) on Jan. 10-13 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, be sure to stop by the new Innovation Station on the show floor.

It will bring together solution-providers in an exciting, unique and open space designed to assist retailers with everyday challenges, as well as new ones, including how to use social media and maximize mobile retailing.

Featured technologies will include social-media tracking, mobile applications, product-review technology, loyalty programs, electronic shelf labels, customer kiosks, in-store marketing solutions and ROI analytics.

For what Susan Newman, NRF’s vice president of conferences, has to say about it and other related links, click here.

See you next Wednesday,
Marc