Bergdorf Goodman is hitting refresh on its beauty — and grooming — assortments.
On July 9, the retailer will be launching a new beauty edit centered around new innovations in beauty, ranging from technologically advanced products to those with natural ingredients. Dubbed the BG Beauty Edit, the new curation will live both in brick-and-mortar and online.
Bergdorf Goodman is introducing new names to its brand matrix to augment the selection, such as Ayuna, Furtuna, SuperEgg, Aura, Esker and Joanna Czech. It will also be broadening its assortment from brands it already stocks, such as St. Rose, La Bouche Rouge, Zents and Botanika Life.
Across the street at the men’s store, Goodman’s will be launching its Men’s Self-Care Shop, a selection of grooming products, on Aug. 18. The array will be merchandised by product function, such as nutrition, post-workout, hair care and sleep. Brands included in the offering include 111Skin, Augustinus Bader, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Acqua di Parma, Iles Formula, Hello Jupiter, 8 Greens, 27 Rosiers, Shore Magic, The Organic Pharmacy, Amly, Anatomē, Claus Porto, Salt, Soeder, TheraGun and Asystem.
Yumi Shin, chief merchant at Bergdorf Goodman, said the retailer’s plans are simply meeting consumer demand. “There’s a lot of innovation in the market and our customers look to Bergdorf Goodman for our edit and for our voice,” Shin said. “It’s our highly curated edit, there’s a lot of product out there. We go through everything — through hundreds of products.
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What’s selling at the luxury specialty store mirrors larger, industry-wide trends, such as the advent of skin care and a renewed focus on wellness. “Skin care is definitely an important category, but we’re also interested in health and wellbeing brands such as Aura and Esker,” Shin said. Despite a relatively soft makeup market industry-wide, clean color brands like Westman Atelier and La Bouche Rouge “have been very, very strong.”
To that end, across categories, Shin has seen “renewed energy in life” with a focus on color. “People are ready to reunite with their friends and families, and they’re coming into our store and walking away with incredible, emotional products with lots of color, like accessories, dresses and getaway pieces,” she said. “Our customer is definitely traveling, and we cannot keep our getaway pieces in stock.”
Shin’s aim in revamping the beauty offering was to better serve the needs of the already existing Bergdorf Goodman customer, not to attract new cohorts of shoppers. “We believe in borderless shopping, our customers love shopping and experiencing the entire store,” she said. “Our customers are very savvy, very well read, and they’re looking for curation in the edit across categories. The beauty customer isn’t just a beauty customer, it’s a Bergdorf’s customer.”
The consumer base for the new Men’s Self-Care Shop is equally as well-heeled. “We have an incredibly broad customer profile, and we have everything from the third floor with Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana to tailoring from Kiton and Tom Ford. We really span age, category and country of origin. It’s anyone who’s interested in luxury,” said Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, who spearheaded and personally tested the products in the retailer’s grooming assortment.
“Over the past year and a half, we’ve been looking at the market as having more and more entrants for men-specific care. We found it intriguing, and it was something we felt was a really important need our customers have,” Pask continued.
The grooming selection is merchandised according to purpose and situation, such as post-workout products, nighttime products, or hair care. “I’m a luddite when it comes to skin care and health care, so this was about demystifying the processes. I’ve come at it from the point of view of an uninformed customer,” Pask said. “We’re going to be very prescriptive, and it’s going to be immediately apparent to our customers that it is easy to adapt this into your life, and it’ll improve your state of being, and how you feel about yourself.”
Pask’s approach to the brand matrix started with recognizable names to the Goodman’s shopper, such as Dr. Barbara Sturm and Augustinus Bader, and mixing them with smaller names like 27 Rosiers and The Organic Pharmacy, he said.
“We want to make sure that we are bringing our customers the newest and the best, that those that are new and exclusive brands are introductions to customers,” Pask said. “For us, we always look at Bergdorf Goodman as a place of discovery.”
Both new product lineups will activate digitally and be available online. “Digital is about storytelling,” Shin said. “If you’ve seen our Love Letters to New York campaign, it’s really about telling our story, and our online space can be very special. It’s about storytelling for our customer, and we will be telling the same story that we are in store, which is what our customers respond well to.”
Brands that have had in-store experiences attached to them, such as Bergdorf Goodman’s series of master classes, also show increased penetration with customers. “We always love to tell [brands’ stories], and that’s what we’re very strong in,” Shin continued. “It’s partnering with us to tell stories. We’ve been holding master classes that have been super successful with our customers, and those moments really stand out when there’s a connection with our customer.”
Pask also heralded the sales associates’ abilities to educate its male consumers on the uses of each grooming product. “They’re going to help our customers in creating regimes that are easy to follow and absolutely beneficial,” he said. “We’ve tried and loved a lot of them, and the reason they’re here is because we’ve found how greatly they’ve benefitted our lives.”
Each roster of brands can be expected to follow cutting-edge technology, Shin said, given the customers’ awareness and knowledge of beauty. “We are always seeking new product, and it’s always through the lens of unabashed luxury across all divisions and categories, and that will continue,” she said. “We have a very discerning edit, and we stand behind all of our launches. It’s going to continue to be very highly curated.”
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