LUSH Shrinks Down for Macy's

Vancouver, B.C. -- LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics recently opened 11 in-store shops within Macy's stores, totaling 16 concept shops with the licensing-heavy department store, known for its many celebrity partners like Martha Stewart. LUSH currently has 60 locations in the United States including its Macy's spots. Each location sells LUSH's handmade bath and body products and carries a "cosmetics deli" theme. "Macy's is a perfect fit for LUSH's expansion plans into the U.S. market," says North American CEO Mark Wolverton. "We have a huge pent-up demand for the brand in the United States after years of only a mail-order offering." Within Macy's, LUSH kept its signature look of wooden displays mixed with blackboard-inspired signage. "Overall, the look and feel of the American stores is the same as the U.K. It's a playful, fun, honest and interactive environment with an extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff," says Sonia Sangha, senior store planner for LUSH. LUSH began in the U.K. before expanding globally. Its North American headquarters is in Canada. All of the signage is on black Sintra board with white acrylic paint in a handwritten font. "We are a cosmetic deli, and, like delis, items are listed and described on chalkboards. Presently, all wall signs and fixture signs are still written by hand and the individual product signs are silkscreened," says Sangha. Each store also "has an illuminated window box sign, framed in our signature soft Idaho pine wood. It's double-sided and suspended, or wall mounted, and features new product information, promotions and all other marketing efforts," she says. The wall-mounted and freestanding fixtures and all other P-O-P are handmade in-house. The displays draw customers into the store by having the products available for them to sample before purchasing. "Where possible, the displays are spacious and allow for demonstration equipment -- stock pots full of warm water for Bath Bomb demonstrations, and whisks and bowls of water for solid Bubble Bar demonstrations." Thus far, LUSH has been pleased with its ministores in Macy's and is in talks to expand its Macy's presence, Wolverton says. One drawback to the smaller space LUSH has in Macy's, however, is that the entire range of LUSH products cannot be displayed, Sangha says. Also, configuring the fixtures into a compact space presented a challenge, but she says the fact that LUSH stores are supposed to look like a farmers' market made the smaller footprint cozier. "The goal was to have the shop look and feel like a whimsical farmers' market/deli/cheese shop/bakery. We [want] to maintain the grassroots feel[ing of] cozy and organic," she says.

LUSH Shrinks Down for Macy's

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