A Walk On The Line Side...With

PALM BEACH BEAUTE

Branching At Macy’s In New Jersey To Celebrate The Launch Of Ellen Tracy Bronze

Macy’s Cyndi DeMarco (r.) welcomes Palm Beach Beauté’s Sue Hochman and Joelle Guedalia to the store.

Beauty Fashion was invited by Palm Beach Beauté’s Sue Hochman, Senior Vice President of Sales; Joelle Guedalia, Vice President of Marketing and Joan Strubbe, Regional Sales Director, on October 4 to visit four malls in New Jersey where Ellen Tracy Bronze was launched.

Ms. Hochman joined Palm Beach Beauté continuing a successful career in the beauty industry. She describes the culture of the company as “different from the cosmetic and fragrance affiliations in her prior positions. Palm Beach Beauté is interested in concentrating on building retail and consumer confidence in our brands. I have been able to attract strong professionals in the field because our strategy is to slowly build each brand so they have staying power.”

“I am happy to say that the people who currently work for Palm Beach Beauté in the sales department have all worked for me in a prior life. These true professionals are with me now because of this strategy of building the brands.” Ms. Hochman currently has Regional Directors in the Northeast for the entire East Coast, and in the Midwest, covering the entire Midwest; Palm Beach Beauté will add Regional Sales Directors as they go west. “We currently have Retail Sales Managers in both the East Coast and the Midwest. Since I have worked with all of these people at previous companies, I’m very proud to say we are a family; we work together. We have the same goals. We are very transparent with each other, and that makes us quite unique in the industry, as well as different from what I have experienced at other organizations.”

According to Ms. Guedalia, Palm Beach Beauté is structuring the company to have three different categories. “One is acquiring brands, which will be owned by Palm Beach Beauté. Second, we will be licensing some brands. And, third, we will distribute brands that do not yet have a presence in the US and that need a good sales force team to promote them here. We are going to capitalize on everything we have—a good marketing department, a good sales team and a good structure of the three categories I have described.”

“Palm Beach Beauté is really babysitting its brands very closely. Our vision is not to expand too quickly and to make sure that each brand has its own position as we build our brands with our retail partners. In our three categories, we have different levels of fragrances which will try to attract a diverse group of customers.”

The display for Ellen Tracy Bronze at Macy’s was awash in fabric petals. Palm Beach Beauté’s Jeanne Drennan, Retail Executive, said, “Our Regional Sales Director, Joan Strubbe is known for her use of the petals as a sampling tool. They hold the fragrance well and the consumer enjoys this as something very special. The scent of the exotic, intoxicating and very feminine fragrance draws the consumer in.”

“We’re doing a layering event at the display where we feature the Ellen Tracy Bronze Body Lotion,” Ms. Drennan explained. “We like to put lotion on one of the petals so the customer can put it on their skin. They love to experience the fragrance and enjoy the feel of the lotion without applying it with their fingers.” At the display is the 10 ml Ellen Tracy Bronze Eau de Parfum purse spray, which is an extra incentive with the promotions. “It’s great for traveling.”

She pointed out the beautiful gift sets, priced at $79.50 and valued at $130.00. “People love them because they have all of our layering products—Body Lotion, Shower Gel, purse sized Eau de Parfum Spray and, of course, our 3.4 oz. Eau de Parfum.”

Ms. Hochman maintains, “Palm Beach Beauté’s sales organization is founded on one belief: selling is theater. We have to engage the consumer, gain her confidence, entertain her and then close the sale. Once we’ve accomplished all of that, our business will continue to increase.” She advised that these beliefs “are nothing new. This is just good old-fashioned experience.”

“Selling fragrances is different from skincare and color cosmetics,” she declared. “A woman needs a moisturizer or an eyeshadow. She may have a multitude of fragrances at home; why does she need another one? You must organize your thoughts to impart them effectively to the customer. That is why it is important for the Selling Assistant, as we refer to them in our company, to gain the confidence of the potential customer. As the consumer is experiencing the fragrance, the Selling Assistant may add such comments as, ‘I love that scarf around your neck.’ Or comment to the gentleman with her, ‘Oh, she is so attractive. You really should get her something special and here it is.’ First gain her loyalty. Once you do, it’s so much easier to close the sale, and regardless of anything else, closing the sale is what we want to do.”

“On our marketing side,” Ms. Guedalia declared, “we are creating the story of the brand and the romance of the fragrance. Each fragrance is very personal, and we make it personal to that customer. We give the Selling Assistants the tools to hook the customer to the fragrance by telling the story.”

In her PR role assisting Palm Beach Beauté with its public relations efforts or in training for new product launches, Sandra Lang believes “you must create the excitement and the motivation to get people enthused and passionate about a fragrance. Part of the excitement is achieving a goal with our team. Our Selling Assistants in the stores were very eager to learn about Ellen Tracy Bronze. It’s very important to share the DNA of the brand with them, so they can effectively and confidently engage with our consumer and sell-through the Ellen Tracy Bronze fragrance.”

“Beauty Advisors are our key liaison between our business and the customer,” affirmed Macy’s Lisa Curcio, Regional Cosmetics Merchandising Director. “Their training is of the utmost importance, and our vendor partners like Palm Beach Beauté have better educated them to talk to the wonderful notes of the Ellen Tracy fragrances and to communicate all of that to the customer for a great shopping experience”

Ms. Curcio maintains that Macy’s/Menlo Park has “come a long way. We are a destination mall now and have great special events. There are three points that drive the customer to the counter: animation, customer experience and Beauty Advisor knowledge.”
“With all of the new competition—the Internet and all of the Omni channels—the animation and excitement that we can bring to a customer in our stores will put us in a better position to get their business and to excel in the fourth quarter,” she explained. “The customer is looking for a shopping experience when they come to our stores, so we want to make sure that we can provide it for them.”

She describes her relationship with the team at Palm Beach Beauté as having “grown over the years. I have worked with many on the Palm Beach Beauté team in their other capacities, so I know them very well. They are the biggest boosters of our business. Whenever we need anything for in-store support, they are ready, willing and able to provide it. I have never once had an issue with anything they have brought to the table.”

The Ellen Tracy fashions play a synergistic role in creating brand recognition for the Ellen Tracy fragrances. “There is huge name recognition for Ellen Tracy in this area,” noted Robin DeCarlo, Merchandiser for Ellen Tracy Ready-To-Wear at Macy’s/Menlo Park. She said that marketplace extends “from northern to southern New Jersey.”

“Ellen Tracy Bronze has really made a retail impression on the diverse stores we toured today,” informs Ms. Strubbe. “[The promotions] are successful because we do our retail events by partnering with the stores and the people to sell-through. For example,” she continued, “if a customer goes to buy a bronzer in Macy’s Impulse Shop, Ellen Tracy Bronze is there to complete her look. That’s our customer—bold, sexy and trendy. By partnering with other people and events in the store, we make Ellen Tracy Bronze a success.”

Macy’s Jin Liu, District Merchant Cosmetics praises Palm Beach Beauté’s team including Ms. Drennan “who has been a great partner for us. We work together very well. Jeanne has brought a good work ethic to Palm Beach Beauté. She is a great ambassador for the brands, and we learn from her.”

Ms. Liu saves special praise as well for the Beauty Advisors. “They are the true assets of our company and bring their expertise, their personal touch and passion to the business.” She shares that “not everybody can sell. When we hire, we do not hire for experience. We hire for the right attitude, and then we can train them to sell.” BF


Palm Beach Beauté’s Linda Amato and Macy’s Jeanette Brown show the Ellen Tracy Bronze gift sets.	‘Palm Beach Beauté’s Jeanne Drennan (3rd l.), Joan Strubbe (2nd r.) and Sandra Lang (r.) with Ms. DeMarco, Ms. Amato, Ms. Guedalia and Ms. Hochman	Macy’s Regina Grinberg (c.) with Ms. Guedalia and Ms. Hochman

Palm Beach Beauté’s Bertram Katkov joins Ms. Strubbe and Ms. Drennan at-counter.	Macy’s Lisa Curcio (c.) with Ms. Hochman and Ms. Guedalia at the Ellen Tracy Bronze display	Ms. Strubbe and Ms. Drennan (r.) flank Macy’s Sharon Williams and Jason Leshnower

Palm Beach Beauté’s Mari Jeanne Raulerson, Macy’s Barbara Pinho, Gioa Masterpalo (2nd r.) and Mr. Leshnower (r.) with Ellen Tracy’s Robin DeCarlo	Ms. Hochman (r.) discusses the launch of Ellen Tracy Bronze with Macy’s Sally Potter and Jin Liu	Macy’s Arlene Sherman (3rd l.) joins Ms. Lang, Ms. Hochman, Ms. Drennan, Ms. Potter, Ms. Strubbe and Ms. Liu at the display for Ellen Tracy Bronze.