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Mass' New Marching Orders
BOSTON
Affordable luxuries.
That was the mantra at the this week's National Association of Chain Drug Store's Marketplace meeting held here at the Boston Convention and Exhibit Center. The trade show was attended by more than 200 retail companies totaling in excess of 700 buyers as well as more than 450 suppliers, who together represent $500 billion in buying power.
Although consumers are slowly returning to stores, they are more frugal than ever and need to be wooed to part with their money.
Economic indicators suggest consumers want value and we aim to please, said Markwins' president and chief operating officer Bill George. He added the company's value brand Wet n' Wild is the number-one seller in units in mass-market color cosmetics, according to Markwins.
The sour economy drove more beauty sales to the mass market; the goal at NACDS was to find ways to keep them there.
To do just that, retailers are burnishing upgraded prototypes. Joe Magnacca, president of Daily Living Products of Walgreen Co. and Solutions and president of Duane Reade, discussed a dramatic new Duane Reade layout that will bow in lower Manhattan next week. It will have a full nail color bar, some salon services, a brow bar and a sushi bar. Successful elements of Duane Reade's Look Boutique also are being interpreted through Walgreens' beauty departments.
Rite Aid also recently unveiled a wellness store design with an upgraded beauty assortment and a separate men's grooming department. The men's category...