Elisabeth King reports on Kiko Milano raising funds for international expansion, high income earners in love with ALDI, Sarah Wilson tapped as wellbeing advocate for Westin Hotels, and Nestlé skin health to open 10 innovation hubs.
Kiko Milano raises funds for international expansion
Sephora has enjoyed blanket coverage for the opening of its first Australian store but there could be competition from Kiko Milano waiting in the wings. The Italian makeup company was founded in 1997 by the Percassi Group and rests its laurels on its 1500 SKU professional range of make-up, skincare and body treatments. On track to a listing on the Italian Stock Exchange within two years, Kiko Milano has placed a $195 million bond to finance international growth.
The company has done very well so far, though, and will close the year with sales revenues of $719 million. With the addition of its first American store in July, Kiko Milano now has 656 concept stores in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the US. With its low, low prices, Kiko Milano has 75 stores in France alone and outsells Sephora on its home turf among the 15 to 24 age group. Much of the new funding will be directed at expansion in the US but we will be hearing more about Kiko Milano sooner rather than later because the company says it has had a lot of interest from Australia.
High income earners in love with ALDI
It's been 13 years since ALDI set up shop in Australia. Today, the German discount supermarket chain has 345 stores and annual sales of $3.5 billion, says Nielsen, excluding the popular special buys. All ALDI stores are located on the Eastern Seaboard and a whopping 68.2% of Australian households in the geographic area have shopped at an ALDI store, catapulting the company to the position of Australia's third largest supermarket chain.
With its even cheaper German counterpart - LIDL - set to open its first store in Australia next year, it's interesting to note how the profile of Australian ALDI shoppers has changed over the years. According to Nielsen, in 2006 38% of ALDI shoppers were low-income earners and another 38% were families on tight budgets looking for bargains. In 2014, though, 50% of ALDI shoppers were high income earners. A major reason perhaps why the company's popular LACURA cosmetics brand recently launched a caviar-based skincare collection.
ALDI has grown three times faster than Woolworths and Coles since 2009, reports Nielsen. In the 12 months to October, ALDI had a national supermarket share of 8.4%, rising to 11% on the Eastern Seaboard. New stores will be launched in South Australia and Western Australia in the near future. It will interesting to see how much hotter the competition gets when LIDL arrives - the German giant is the eighth largest food retailer in the world and operates in 26 countries, pulling in annual sales revenues of US$88 billion.
Sarah Wilson tapped as Well-Being Brand Advocate for Westin Hotels
Sarah Wilson, the former editor of Cosmopolitan and author of the global bestselling books I Quit Sugar and I Quit Sugar For Life, has been appointed the Well-Being Brand Advocate for Westin Hotels Asia/Pacific. Wilson is not only one of Australia's leading wellness spokespeople, she is also a seasoned traveller. The perfect go-to advisor for top tips on how to stay healthy, fit and active on the road.
The appointment is part of the Westin Well-Being Movement, a year-long, US$15 million global campaign to boost the health and vitality of the hotel group's guests as they wing their way around the world. Wilson's helpful know-how is available for download from The Westin Sydney and The Westin Melbourne web sites. You can also check out more of lifestyle and health tips on westinwellbeing.com, even if you are one of the estimated 500,000 people who have uploaded Wilson's sugar detox program.
Nestlé Skin Health to open 10 innovation hubs
Dermo-cosmetic brands such as L'Oréal's La Roche-Posay, Bioderma and Avène are some of the fastest-growing skincare brands in the world. But we've seen nothing yet say beauty industry analysts. Fighting the effects of pollution on the skin, for example, is being touted as the next major frontier for the skincare business with Olay publishing a ground-breaking study on the phenomenon last month. Skin health, rather than mere beautification, is increasingly being seen as the wave of the future.
Nestlé's Skin Health division is one of the major players with an eye on the global prize. According to the Swiss multinational, proactive skincare to maintain healthier skin is crucial to our quality of life and sense of well-being at every life stage, especially as we age. A new worldwide network - the Nestlé Skin Health Investigation, Education and Longevity Development (SHIELD) - will open 10 innovation hubs to promote healthy skin through dermatological, general medicine and ageing technologies.
Working in partnership with the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), the first hub will open early next year in New York, followed by Hong Kong, Sao Paolo in Brazil and strategic locations in North America, Asia and Europe. According to Michael Hodin, executive director of GCOA: "Only by improving our health as we age, will be able to harness the potential of the 21st century's silver economy".
Snippets from the wires
- The British spa skincare brand Elemis, imported by BrandPoint, is set to overhaul its operations and product lineup next year. With annual revenues of $142.6 million, part of the new strategy involves opening standalone retail stores with the first one debuting in Hong Kong. A new global e-commerce and information web site will be unveiled in February/March. The Elemis flagship spa in London will also be given a major makeover and will re-open in the northern hemisphere summer with a larger retail space and a penthouse suite offering spa services for up to six people.
- French pharma/skincare manufacturer Pierre Fabre owns the bestselling Avène, Klorane, Rene Furterer and Drill brands, with the cosmetics division accounting for 55% of global sales. The company is retrenching 550 people from its pharmaceutical division in France to concentrate on expanding its dermo-cosmetic skincare ranges in Asia and the US. .
- The lovely Alice Hampton recently became Senior Director - Global PR for Ugg Australia in the US and she's made a smart move. The trademark boots may still be made from Aussie sheepskin but the brand is owned by US footwear company Deckers Outdoor Corporation. Company sales rose 9.7% in 2013 to US$1.299 billion. Re-positioning itself as a premium lifestyle label, the classic Ugg boots now account for only 30% of global sales as the brand moves even more strongly into homewares, leisurewear, slippers, sneakers, fashion shoes, men's and children's footwear.
- Neiman Marcus, the luxury Texas-based retailer, was bought by Ares Management and the Canadian Pension Plan last year. It's been a great takeover. Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 were up 5.1% to US$1.19 billion and profits rose to US$196 million, in contrast to a US$13 million loss for the same period in 2013.
- L Capital, the Asian private equity fund backed by LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group, has acquired a majority stake in Aussie swimwear company Seafolly. The price of the deal was undisclosed but the plan is to transition to a lifestyle brand.
- Signature Cartier pieces are very rare and fetch very high prices. Last week a Cartier Tutti Frutti bracelet made in 1928 and owned by Mrs Estée Lauder set a world auction record of US$2,165,000. Other jewels from the beauty icon's private collection and from Mrs Evelyn Lauder's estate brought in an additional US$1.23 million at the Sotheby's auction. All proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation.
Image credit: Digital Area for KIKO MAKEUP
