Retail Channels
26 July 2022
Glossier is embracing in-person retail
With its first retail deal and more stores, the beauty brand is entering a new era where DTC is only part of the strategy.

Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash
With its first retail deal and more stores, the beauty brand is entering a new era where DTC is only part of the strategy.
Glossier is about to start appearing on more store shelves.
The beauty brand that became synonymous with direct-to-consumer is making moves to expand its presence in brick-and-mortar retail. A pair of announcements issued by the brand on Tuesday make this clear:
Changing of the guard: It’s an about-face in strategy for eight-year-old Glossier, which forged a new path in cosmetics by selling through its own channels, and gained cult status among consumers in the process. On the way to a billion-dollar valuation in 2019, Founder Emily Weiss made a point of foregoing the cosmetics retailers and drug stores where the largest beauty brands compete for space. Weiss had ambitions to grow by creating a deeper tech-enabled experience, but that was abandoned amid layoffs earlier this year. That set the stage for Weiss’ departure in May. New CEO Kyle Leahy, who brings experience from Nike and Cole Haan, immediately voiced that growth through wholesale and other in-person retail would be a priority. Two months later, it's coming to fruition with an agreement in place.
Key quote: “We are incredibly excited to enter our first-ever retailer partnership with Sephora. They are an iconic, international retailer with an extremely loyal community and we know our customers want to find us there,” Leahy said in a news release. “We share the same customer-centric values and are both deeply grounded in the ever-evolving notion of beauty discovery. This marks a new chapter in our omnichannel strategy and we can’t wait for all that’s ahead in 2023.”
Part of the whole: Glossier follows fellow DTC darlings like Allbirds and Casper into the more traditional retail route. With the expansion of its own stores, Glossier is also joining Warby Parker and Everlane in embracing an omnichannel direct model that moves between both digital and in-person retail. Plenty of other newer DTC brands are embracing a strategy of starting direct with digital, then moving into physical retail and big box stores to get bigger, as well. That was on view elsewhere this week as DTC innerwear brand Parade signed its first retail partnership with Urban Outfitters. At the same time, storied brands are prioritizing direct-to-consumer to reach shoppers on a growing number of digital touchpoints. It points toward a model where DTC is less of a movement, and more of an established operational strategy.
Searches answered: While Glossier is looking to find its footing again, the brand still has plenty of the appeal that made it the balm dotcom in the first place. It was legendary for its ability to generate demand, and that carried over to Sephora even before the deal was signed. The retailer said searches looking for information on whether the brand was available at Sephora jumped 200% in the last year, and shared that it is one of the “most searched” brands not currently available at Sephora.
Year of firsts: To be sure, wholesale is just one channel for growth that Glossier is pursuing to add customers. In other firsts, the brand also signed its inaugural celebrity partnership with pop star Olivia Rodrigo, and helped to introduce YouTube's shoppable Shorts with the launch of its No.1 Pencil.
The bottom line: Still, those are moves from the DTC playbook. Wholesale is a bigger step toward traditional retail. As it enters the store, there’s no doubt that Glossier will be more widely available through Sephora. The beauty retailer has over 500 stores in the Americas, and increased its US store count by 260 in 2021 alone. Glossier is also planning to expand its own stores in the coming year with locations in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Atlanta and its new location in New York’s Soho neighborhood. The test will be whether it can retain its singular status as a business pioneer and it factor with consumers can remain as its products join the brand's distinctive shade of pink in ubiquity.On the Move has the latest hiring update from The Vitamin Shoppe and At Home.
Heidi O’Neill has a new role at Nike. (Courtesy photo)
This week, Unilever, Nike and BigCommerce are seeing major transitions in the executive ranks. Meanwhile, The Vitamin Shoppe named a permanent CEO, and At Home brought on a longtime Walmart executive as president.
Conny Braams. (Courtesy photo)
Consumer goods giant Unilever announced key changes in top leadership roles. These include:
Graeme Pitkethly will retire as chief financial officer, effective at the end of May 2024. The board is set to launch a formal search for his successor. Pitkethly has been with Unilever for 21 years.
Conny Braams, who serves as chief digital and commercial officer, will leave the company, effective August 2023. Braams previously held senior management roles including Executive Vice President (EVP) of Middle Europe; and EVP Foodsolutions Asia, Africa and Middle East.
Craig Williams. (Courtesy photo)
Nike, Inc. announced several key leadership changes focused on consumer-led growth and marketplace. They are as follows:
Heidi O’Neill who is currently president of consumer and marketplace, will become president of consumer, product and brand.
Craig Williams, who is currently president of the Jordan Brand, will become president of geographies and marketplace at Nike, Inc.
Matthew Friend, EVP and Chief Financial Officer at NIKE, Inc., will expand responsibilities to include procurement, global places and services and demand and supply management.
Jared Carver will serve as CEO of Converse. Over the last four years, he served as VP/GM of North America for Converse.
Scott Uzzell, the previous CEO of Converse, transitioned to a new role as VP/GM, North America for Nike, Inc.
“These shifts will allow us to streamline our focus across product, brand storytelling and marketplace, mining deep consumer insights to deliver breakthrough innovation and engagement, while building long-term growth and profitability,” said Nike CEO John Donahoe, in a statement.
Lee Wright. (Courtesy photo)
Lee A. Wright was named CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe on a permanent basis, after serving as interim CEO since January 2023. Wright previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Franchise Group and in executive roles at Conn’s.
Muriel Gonzalez was promoted to president of the retailer, after serving as EVP and chief merchandising and marketing officer of The Vitamin Shoppe since August 2020.
BigCommerce announced the following leadership roles:
Daniel Lentz was promoted to chief financial officer of BigCommerce, effective July 1. He previously served as SVP of finance and investor relations. Lentz will succeed CFO Robert Alvarez, who is retiring after a 12-year stint as CFO.
Chuck Cassidy was promoted to general counsel, effective June 2. Cassidy previously served as VP and associate general counsel. He will succeed Jeff Mengoli, who is retiring.
Hubert Ban was named chief accounting officer. He will replace Vice President of Accounting and Principal Accounting Officer Thomas Aylor, who departed the ecommerce platform on May 19.
Jeff Evans. (Courtesy photo)
Jeff Evans was named president and chief merchandising officer of At Home, the home goods retailer.
Evans previously served as EVP of entertainment, toys and seasonal at Walmart, managing the largest general merchandise business for the retailer. He rose to the position after serving in executive roles at Walmart US and Sam’s Club.