Here are three of my Berlin Cityscape articles from last winter – the opening of Original Unverpackt, Berlin’s first supermarket to sell groceries without packaging (read the article here), the new Berlin flagship of German premium shaving brand Mühle (the article is available here) and organic beauty brand Weleda’s recent pop-up store in the Bikini concept mall (for the article, click here). Enjoy but, as always, please respect the copyright!
Beauty International 2015: [Show Report]
From 27th to 29th March 2015 I was in Düsseldorf, visiting Beauty International, Germany’s biggest trade show for the salon, spa and wellness industry. The professional beauty sector is strong over here and the big German salon brands – like Babor, Alessandro International, LCN, Klapp, Jean D’Arcel, Kryolan or Dr. Grandel – are very successful internationally.
2015 also marked the 30th anniversary for Beauty International. According to organizers Messe Düsseldorf, 51000 visitors from 60 countries attended the trade show and there were 1400 exhibitors in total. And since Beauty International traditionally takes place in conjunction with Top Hair International, the most important German show for the hair salon industry, and the Make Up Artist Design Show, Düsseldorf’s trade show centre was practically bursting at the seams with visitors.
Share this:
Filed under cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Show Reports, Trade Shows, Trends
Retail notes from Seoul: [Store Profile] Olive Young Lifestyle Experience Center in Myeong-dong
[EDIT 11/5/2018 – Following a major relaunch of the Olive Young store brand across Korea, and the opening of several new (and considerably larger) Olive Young outlets in Seoul, the Myeong-Dong Lifestyle Experience Center was completely remodelled in line with Olive Young’s new look. The store looks entirely different now, with a new interior design and a different brand portfolio; more style and less hallyu. You’re therefore about to take a step into the Olive Young chain’s retail history ; )]
On my very first evening in Myeung-dong area I was randomly walking along the streets, enjoying the very special Myeung-dong evening experience: crowds of shoppers pushing along the narrow streets, music blaring from every store and restaurant, sales staff standing outside the beauty stores announcing special offers to try and lure customers inside, food stalls everywhere, more crowds, more noise…..
Then I drifted past an Olive Young store, one of the many branches that Korea’s leading drugstore retailer operates in the central Seoul area. This particular outlet looked different though, so I drifted right back to check it out. The store was much bigger than the average Olive Young retail space; new, stylish and sophisticated-looking – and indeed, as it turned out this is a new Olive Young retail format. The “Lifestyle Experience Center”, opened in 2012, is an attractive beauty concept store with an integrated café area and a strong hallyu flavour.
Share this:
Filed under Asia, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Store Profiles, Travel
Retail notes from Seoul: Capital of beauty stores
Greetings from Seoul where I’m winding up my spring trip to Asia! I spent the last two weeks in Tokyo: enjoying the city, exploring different neighbourhoods and doing some article research (I am writing a retail profile on Japanese store chain Cosmekitchen for CBM Magazine). I also visited most of the major art and design museums and galleries in the greater Tokyo area. Unlike last year’s visit, my first 2015 trip to Tokyo was culture-oriented rather than retail-focused.
In Seoul, however, I am making up for this: my visit here is all about brands, cosmetics and retail! Although this is my first trip to Korea I already know a good bit about the Korean beauty market and I’m familiar with many of the big retail brands. Korean cosmetics are popular across Asia and brands like Holika Holika, Tony Moly, Innisfree, Nature Republic, Skin Food, Etude House and Missha have a significant presence in East Asia and most of the South East Asian countries. Several of these brands also have retail boutiques in the US, by the way. And with the Korean hallyu blazing its triumphant path across the world, K-Beauty is only going to grow in importance.
Share this:
Filed under Asia, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Retail, Travel
Vivaness 2015: [Show Report]
Vivaness is over and, as always, it was a fantastic show – l discovered new organic beauty brands (my personal highlights included a certified organic snail mucus face care range and a 7-sku line of dog shampoos!), met interesting people and returned to Berlin with cool cosmetics to try out and plenty of ideas for articles and features. Read on for more information on the organic market in Germany, stats about the trade show and, of course, a list of my favourite Vivaness brand discoveries!
Share this:
Filed under cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Show Reports, Trade Shows
Event: Vivaness 2015
The next important event for me will be Vivaness trade show in Nuremberg. Vivaness is one of the biggest international organic beauty trade shows and definitely the most important organic C&T event in Europe.
This year, Vivaness takes place from 11th to 14th February 2015; as always, the show is run concurrently with Biofach which is THE most important international trade fair for the organic industry. I’ll only be there for the first two days of Vivaness since I’m flying to Tokyo the week after (yay!) but I fully intend to make those two days count! And there is a lot to look forward to. Continue reading
Share this:
Filed under cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Trade Shows
SPC Magazine: C&T Market Report Germany 2014
Last September I was asked to write the annual German C&T market overview for SPC Magazine – one of my favourite repeat assignments! Here’s the link to the SPC Germany Report 2014 – as usual, please respect the copyright (HPCi Media/cosmeticsbusiness.com).
Share this:
Filed under cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail
Store Profile: Original Unverpackt in Kreuzberg, Berlin
Last autumn an unusual store opened here in Berlin: Original Unverpackt (lit. “originally unpackaged”) is the city’s first supermarket to sell groceries without packaging and in bulk. OU’s founders Milena Glimbovski and Sara Wolf raised the money for their project via crowdfunding which ensured a lively debate in the German media about packaging waste, recycling and food wastage, long before the store even opened.
Share this:
Filed under Berlin, Industry News, Mintel, Retail, Store Profiles
Mintel article: Berlin perfumery Frau Tonis Parfum
This summer I wrote a profile about Frau Tonis Parfum – one of my favourite perfumeries in Berlin: a beautiful store, great fragrances and they even have a brand cooperation with one of my favourite Berlin bars! Check out the Mintel article here.
Share this:
Event: Cyberfest 2014 – The Other Home
It’s that time of year again: Cyberfest, Russia’s biggest new media festival, is back in town! The first Cyberfest took place in St. Petersburg eight years ago. Last November, Cyberfest came to Berlin and took up residence in art house The Wye for a week of fabulous digital music/art/tech exhibitions and events. Check out my Cyberfest 2013 blog article here.
This year the festival returns to Berlin and again The Wye is Cyberfest’s co-organisator. The program promises to be just as interesting as the one last year: From 12th to 15th December, Bethanien gallery in Kreuzberg is hosting a visual art exhibition which presents an overview of contemporary Russian new media/art and at Platoon Kunsthalle in Mitte on 15th December, there is a sound art performance featuring five auditory artists from Russia and Berlin. Should be absolutely worth a visit!
More information is available from Cyberfest creator Cyland Media Lab and on the festival’s Facebook page.
Share this:
Filed under Design, Exhibitions
TRENDS. TRAVELS. AND BERLIN 