New products may ignite spark in hair care sales growth - column

New products may ignite spark in hair care sales growth

The hair care category is showing only moderate growth in chain drug stores so far this year, but several new products shipping in this quarter may help spark sales.

At press time, new launches like L'Oreal's Colorvive, a hair care regimen for women with color-treated hair, and Ultra Care, Vidal Sassoon's all-in-one shampoo/conditioner/rinse, had only begun to reach stores.

But, according to store cosmeticians randomly interviewed on a market-by-market basis, early sellthroughs are promising - especially for Colorvive.

Vidal Sassoon's Ultra Care was generating more moderate turns in most cases, but had the potential to be a good steady builder, several sources said.

At Rhode Island-based Douglas Drug, hair care buyer Steve Dubin says Ultra Care has been in stock two months and is selling very well.

"From the day we first put Colorvive up, it started selling," reported Robin Maiden, cosmetician for Osco's Blue Springs, Mo., store.

In Plano, Texas, Tangee McFarland, cosmetician for a Skaggs/Alpha Beta store, also reports that Colorvive is doing well. "We've only had it for three weeks and we've reordered it," she says. "We sell a lot of color here."

Ultra Care has been in the Skaggs store a few months now and is still building a following. McFarland says they ran it on an ad and it did okay, but not spectacular.

Almost all the cosmeticians and buyers interviewed said that Pert Plus is continuing to sell very well.

The new Vidal Sassoon Ultra Care line and Revlon's Flex & Go shampoo/conditioners, he thinks, will do well because they will be building on Pert Plus's success.

According to most chain drug hair care buyers, sales in the total hair care category so far are up about 4 percent to 6 percent 0 and 2 percent in units.

Spritz and professional products remain the strongest growth areas, with sales in these segments trending up in the high single- to low double-digit rates for traditional chains and in excess of 20 percent for some deep discounters.

In the professional product segment, most buyers single out the Redmond Aussie line, All Set, TRESemme and Infusium as being extremely strong sellers. Some buyers also say Freeman's natural hair care products are doing well, and La Coupe is being watched as a potential comer.

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