Merely weeks into new ownership, Fromm International is taking The Hair Edit to new heights.
The company — which Firelight Capital Partners acquired in January — is betting on expansions in both distribution and eyeing new categories to bolster The Hair Edit’s growth. The brand, which is available in Ulta Beauty, is going into select Target locations as well as the retail giant’s website. That precurses another partnership with Kohl’s, and will be expanding its door count with CVS.
“We have been aggressively looking at retail expansion on our core growth brand, The Hair Edit,” said Martin Okner, Fromm International’s chief executive officer. “This elevated approach to the hair accessory category shows so much room for expansion, both in terms of new products as well as our retail footprint.”
Related Articles
Core to the brand’s value proposition is accessible pricing — at Ulta, the most expensive item is $20.99 — and Okner’s mandate is to keep distribution equally as democratic.
“We’ve prioritized expanding to channels that can help consumers drive accessibility to tthe brand. We’ve found that once it’s in front of people, they love it and they buy it. Our growth has been super strong year-over-year,” he said.
Okner sees the most room for growth outside of specialty beauty retail. “Target and Kohl’s are great complements because these are multicategory destinations,” he said. “By launching in Target, we’re reaching that consumer in our demographic who might be shopping multicategory. The first purchase might be a bit more of an impulse, and then they keep coming back.”
From a category perspective, nothing’s off limits. “The Hair Edit is very lifestyle-oriented. We think about what dimensions we can bring to a woman’s everyday in terms of how she thinks about approaching her day,” Okner said. “There are different needs, whether it’s going to the gym, running errands or running to a business meeting. These are all different aspects of somebody’s life.”
Homing in on those use cases will dictate which categories The Hair Edit plays in — and when. “Some hair accessories brands are very commodity-driven, which focuses a bit too much on trends that could fall out of favor,” Okner said. “The other approach is to rapidly extend distribution to as many outlets as possible. That can hit bumps pretty quickly.
“We’re looking at the long-term success of the hair edit, how we can build it into a $100-million-plus brand in the next five years, and doing that in a way that honors a tight but accessible distribution base and then filling in with different categories to meet the lifestyle needs of the consumer.”