Hair care is coming to Bloomingdale’s in a big way.
Starting in March, Bloomingdale’s will offer an in-store assortment of more than 30 hair products, accessories, perfume and tools via its Carousel rotating concept, at locations including the 59th Street flagship in NYC. Bloomingdale’s first introduced its Carousel concept in 2019, which features products curated around different themes. This is the first time the Carousel has had a dedicated hair care theme, though Bloomingdale’s has always sold hair care online and in-store. Hair care will become a permanent in-store fixture in Bloomingdale’s after approximately 10 weeks in the Carousel.
As part of the Carousel, Bloomingdale’s is bringing new brands into its distribution, including AG Hair, Isles Formula, IGK, Living Proof, Alterna, RevAir and Ives Durif, among others. Throughout March, brands like Bumble & Bumble will provide in-store customers with dry styling and product demonstrations.
“The intention is to show our customer we have [hair care]. We know from online sales that customers are looking to purchase hair [products] in a bigger way. An in-store presence with activations showing the customer how to use the products is a huge opportunity for us,” said Marissa Galante Frank, fashion director at Bloomingdale’s. She declined to share the company’s online hair care sales figures but noted that marketing emails involving hair were seeing success.
Bloomingdale’s parent company, Macy’s, Inc., held its fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. The executive team announced it would close 150 Macy’s locations and expand the physical footprints of Bloomingdale’s and Blue Mercury. Specifically, Bloomingdale’s will accelerate the rollout of its small-format store called Bloomies and its Bloomingdale’s Outlets, with 15 store openings planned in the next three years. Off-price retail has gained notable interest and attraction from both beauty brands and consumers in recent months, per recent Glossy reporting. Year-over-year, Bloomingdale’s net sales were up 3.5%, and its comparable sales were down 1.6% on an owned plus licensed basis.
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“To close out the discussion on luxury, we have a high degree of confidence in Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, which are healthy and accretive and have strong investment profiles. Now is the time to capitalize on this momentum, and we expect these investments will fuel sales growth and margin expansion,” said Tony Spring, CEO of Macy’s, Inc. on the earnings call.
Across department stores, hair products are gaining traction. Drybar hair styling opened in Nordstrom’s flagship location in Bellevue, Wash. in February. Macy’s has also leaned more into hair care via its luxe beauty retail concept locations as they’ve expanded over the last year. When Dyson opened its first U.S. Beauty Lab in South Florida in 2022, it selected Saks Fifth Avenue as the location.
“Hair is having a moment as a global trend. And we have a very diverse customer, so we’re looking at how to service all of our customers in the hair care space,” said Galante Frank. When asked why Bloomingdale’s had only offered hair care online and not a dedicated section in-store, she said she was uncertain about the reasons but emphasized that Bloomingdale’s is seeing the opportunity now.
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“We’re trying to listen to the customer, and we’re trying to simplify her journey and service her in all aspects of her life,” she said.
