Glossier, the Gen Z-focused beauty brand trying to rebound from a tumultuous period, has revamped its executive ranks and is moving further beyond its direct-to-consumer roots.
(Bloomberg) — Glossier, the Gen Z-focused beauty brand trying to rebound from a tumultuous period, has revamped its executive ranks and is moving further beyond its direct-to-consumer roots.
The New York-based company is making several pushes to strengthen its business: announcing product launches every four to six weeks, expanding its physical brick-and-mortar footprint to 600 Sephora stores and positioning itself for a global expansion.
Glossier expects retail sales to reach $275 million in 2023, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private details.
The company is emerging from a shaky 2022. It cut more than a third of its workforce and founder Emily Weiss stepped down as chief executive officer. That came as sales through its own website and stores slowed down, according to Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracks anonymized US consumer transactions.
To reignite growth, Kyle Leahy, a veteran of Nike Inc., American Express and Cole Haan, has expanded Glossier’s distribution beyond exclusively online channels since taking the helm as CEO.
Glossier was valued at $1.8 billion in July 2021, the last time the business raised money from investors, according to researcher PitchBook.
Chitra Balireddi will be Glossier’s chief commercial officer, taking over Leahy’s previous job. With leadership experience at Chanel and the Boston Consulting Group, she is expected to help the retailer bolster its in-store and wholesale operations.
“We’re bringing in Chitra to help scale and grow the brand for its next level of growth,” Leahy said in an interview with Bloomberg. She pledged expansion, not just on different platforms, “but across the globe.”
Kleo Mack, who has been promoted to chief marketing officer, will extend Glossier’s reach beyond its existing consumers as it completes the roll-out of its Sephora partnership. She has already expanded the brand’s awareness among US women in the 18-to-34-year-old age range, an important demographic for the business, according to a company spokesperson.
Glossier is also promoting Marie Suter to chief creative director. Suter was behind the brand’s efforts to open its flagship store in SoHo and spent six years at Condé Nast as a creative director for Teen Vogue.
–With assistance from Raeedah Wahid and Matt Townsend.
(Adds Second Measure data in fourth paragraph, chart after fourth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.