After last weeks highlight of Walgreens and their serious revamp of their skin and beauty assortment, I wondered just how CVS, their leading competitor was planning to respond. In a way felt badly for them from a personal stand point, silly as it sounds, because I'm a CVS girl. I guess in the same way that I'm a Coke girl......I just say no.....to Pepsi that is. As a child there was a CVS in walking distance from my house so it was easy for my friends and I to make the trip for candy, soda, or, well.....when we got older.....cigarettes. Could we fool the checkout guy became a semi regular event in which only the bravest entered, and sometimes emerged the victor. So it was in recounting the misadventures of my youth, and the role the local CVS played in my own minor delinquency, that I began to realize my attachment to that silly pharmacy. Hence that tiny pang of sadness I felt upon reading about Walgreens savvy move.
It didn't take long for CVS to publicly respond to the beauty market challenge set forth by their foe as this week the retailer revealed plans to launch Nuance, a beauty line by Salma Hayek in August. The endeavor has been underway for years by the actress who's grandmother was a cosmetologist herself. CVS plans to sell the product in 7,000 stores and online at affordable price points fitting their consumer. The value consciousness not forgotten by CVS is quite different to Walgreens upscale luxury approach. While it remains to be seen how effective Walgreens efforts will be, CVS's plans are in my mind a sure fire winner.
They are coming at it the right way. First, celebrity products usually equate to sales and Salma Hayek is everybody's girl. Not only is she and award winning actress, she is also the picture of graceful aging. She's as attractive today as she was 10 years ago, no doubt due to a combination of good genes and her grandmothers secret cosmetic concoctions. She also has an enthusiasm for her product that even the best actress could not imitate. Lastly, she's Mexican, a perfect face for CVS catering to the ever expanding Hispanic market.
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