Last week I was in Düsseldorf to visit Beauty International, Germany’s most important trade show for salon C&T. Beauty International 2014 was as busy – and as interesting – as last year’s show. Besides the usual big German exhibitors like Babor, Dr. Grandel or Alessandro International I noticed a number of organic beauty brands, including Annané and Aiomyth from Switzerland, Amala from Germany and Zinobel Organic Boost from Denmark.
Category Archives: Retail
Beauty International 2014: [Show Report]
Filed under Industry News, Retail, Show Reports, Trade Shows
Travels in Zürich (1/2): Vintage design, Inuit sculptures and contemporary art
I just came back from a few days in Zürich, Switzerland. It’s a very pretty, historical city in a rich country, a European financial capital and one of the most expensive urban areas in the world; with a high density of rich individuals and minimal unemployment. The city centre is packed with luxury stores, property prices are unbelievable high and consumer goods, food and cosmetics are expensive. But there are some cool museums and galleries. Continue reading
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Filed under Design, Exhibitions, Industry News, Retail, Travel
Mintel articles: Harry Lehmann and Manhattan Pop-Up Store
Here are two more articles I wrote for Mintel’s BPC website last year: colour cosmetics brand Manhattan’s first pop-up store in Berlin (publication date: July 2013) and a company profile of Berlin perfumery Harry Lehmann (publication date: August 2013). These articles are copyrighted!
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Filed under Berlin, Industry News, Mintel, Retail
SPC article: C&T Market Report Germany 2013
For all those who want a nice compact analysis of the German C&T market in 2012/2013 – here is the article I wrote for SPC Magazine a couple of months ago. It’s the fifth or even sixth time I’ve been writing this country profile over the past ten years and it’s one of my favourite repeat assignments! Enjoy but please respect the copyright: Holding Steady
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Filed under Industry News, Retail
Mintel article: Planet Prestige
Here is my Cityscape article on online perfumery Planet Prestige: Planet Prestige covers all the bases. As always: this article is copyrighted so please don’t post it elsewhere! [EDIT: Planet Prestige’s Berlin store has closed down!]
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Natural Cosmetics Conference 2013: [Show Report] Authenticity, consumer insights and LOR
The Natural Cosmetics Conference took place this Tuesday and Wednesday here in Berlin. It’s the third year that I’ve attended the event and, as always, it was very worthwhile. Interesting people, good keynote speakers and well-chosen discussion topics, not to mention a very nice venue!
This year the Branchenkongress had a strong sociodemographic focus; the first day especially revolved around demographics and market research, trends and consumer behaviour – exactly my areas of interest so I took lots of notes. Here’s a brief review (find out all about LOR!): Continue reading
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Filed under Berlin, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Show Reports, Trade Shows, Trends
Brand Profile: Kryolan
Kryolan is a professional makeup artist brand from Berlin. It was established in 1945; Kryolan’s core business is film and theater makeup, they make artificial blood, body fluids and scars, camouflage and HD products; they are also very popular with makeup artists. And they have a great range of “regular” makeup. I love their Camouflage Powder; have been buying it for years. Read my Mintel article here.
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Filed under Berlin, Brand Profiles, Mintel, Retail
ECM article: Online retailer Point Rouge
My first Retail Focus article for cosmeticsbusiness.com is about online retailer Point Rouge. A direct competitor of Planet Prestige!
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Filed under Berlin, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Retail, Trends
ECM market report: Colour Cosmetics
Obviously I can’t post the entire market report. However, here are a couple of the main trends and market drivers that have characterised the German colour cosmetics segments in 2012/2013:
1) limited editions! This is a unique aspect of the German colour cosmetics market. We have four drug store brands here – Palmer’s P2, Coty’s Manhattan and Cosnova’s Catrice and Essence – that have the same target group (the teen and twen market) and a similar entry-level pricing. These three companies are fierce competitors and they battle it out with a product launch pace that has to be seen to be believed. Continue reading
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Filed under cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail
Store Profile: Planet Prestige
Planet Prestige is an online store for premium and niche beauty which was founded in December 2012. So far so good. But, and that is the unusual twist, unlike most online retailers the company has also opened a perfumery here in Berlin. Yes, a proper bricks-and-mortar store.
According to current EU legislation you can only sell cosmetics online if you also have at least one real store, so most online retailers have a street address somewhere to satisfy the requirements and that’s it. The Planet Prestige store on Oranienburger Straße 27, however, is a very stylish stand-alone store. It is also my current Mintel article topic. Continue reading
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Filed under Berlin, Mintel, Retail, Store Profiles, Trends
TRENDS. TRAVELS. AND BERLIN 