Bumble and bumble goes into flagship boots stores
The president of Bumble and bumble, Peter Lichtenthal, has confirmed that the cult brand will be going into Boots - but insists it will be placed only in prestige outlets, in specialist premium beauty product areas away from mainstream hair products.
Peter also stressed that the move was designed to increase client footfall to its network of salons and would not in any way undermine the brand's professional status and that stylists would remain at its heart.
Said Peter: "A big issue for salons is getting people through the door, with clients leaving longer between appointments. We need to help them drive consumers into their salons. Our research showed that premium shoppers do use Boots. It would be easy to be defensive about where our products are sold from, but instead we are going to openly use Boots to bring consumers back to our network of salons."
This will be done with point of sale material that will stress the importance of having a professional cut and style, along with in-store events and a salon locator tool on the Boots retail website - where the brand's products will also be available - said Peter.
Asked about his expectations for the success of the project, Peter referred to a similar change to the brand's distribution structure in the US, where it is now available in around 200 branches of beauty retail chain, Sephora. Peter claimed that in the US, while some concern had been shown by a number of network salons, they had actually seen an increase in business since the changes had been implemented.
Said Peter: "In other industries barriers that have been traditionally there are coming down in order for them to keep up to date. We want to be on the side of change, while preserving the core strength of our brand, which is our professional salon network."
Bumble and bumble will initially be available in 30 of Boots' flagship stores across the UK from the end of October 2012, in new premium haircare retail areas. The brand will also continue to be available in existing prestige retail partners including Selfridges, Liberty and Harrods
