About two years ago now, not one of the big companies I know so not Estee Lauder,L'Oreal etc. She closed her shop in NYC as well, so like Liz Earle and Bobbi Brown is just the face of the company.
Now how they get round the WE HAVE NOT CHANGED THE FORMULA is, they just move the cheaper ingredients to the top and more expensive down. That way the product does have the same ingredients.
Found it
Connecticut based private equity firm, Tengram Capital Partners, has become an investor in the cosmetic industry and acquired a stake in Laura Geller Makeup.
The brand has been sold on the direct-selling network, QVC for 15 years. It’s brick-and-mortar distribution consists of 600 Ulta doors, with plans for adding an additional 600 doors in the spring. Geller revealed that Ulta plans to double the brand’s merchandising space from its present three-foot gondola to a six-foot size.
The brand gained fame in the “primer” category with the release of a texture leveling pre-foundation product called spackle® (image left). It’s not a word most women choose to associate with their makeup products. But despite the name, it became the brand’s icon product and put them firmly in the public eye.
Geller said Tengram’s participation will allow the company to invest in marketing and advertising for the first time. “Marketing will enable the brand to have a bigger presence,” she said, noting that it also will allow her “to look at other retail opportunities,” as long as present relationships are not harmed.
The company is also looking to expand distribution overseas. The brand is only sold outside the U.S. through QVC (in the U.K., Italy and Germany). Geller acknowledged that eventually the company will be represented in department stores. “We are going to get to it,” she said.
Richard Gersten, a partner of TCP, shares that the goal is to grow the company “beyond the U.S., beyond QVC and beyond the product category,”, adding that Laura Geller Makeup will be kept within the prestige category.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. According to estimates by industry sources, Laura Geller Makeup generates $75 million in retail sales annually.
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