Lush Fresh Homemade Cosmetics Ltd. (Vancouver, B.C.) will open new licensed departments in select Macy's stores nationwide, to sell its line of handmade bath and body products.
The Canadian company is a division of Lush Ltd. (Poole, U.K.), which sells its organic soaps and gels in nearly 500 of its own stores in 25 countries. Though there are several stores across Canada, the influx in the U.S. is relatively recent, with 46 new locations in 21 states.
After testing five shops in Macy's in Illinois and Michigan, Lush and Macy’s Inc. (Cincinnati) have created a program to roll out new shops in the cosmetic department areas of 11 Macy's locations by the end of October, including Lenox Square Mall (Atlanta); Mall of America (Bloomington, Minn.); Kenwood Towne Centre (Cincinnati); Tuttle Crossing (Columbus, Ohio); Menlo Park (Edison, N.J.); Memorial City Mall (Houston); Oak Court (Memphis, Tenn.); Dadeland (Miami); Southcenter (Seattle); Mayfair (Wauwatosa, Wis.); and The Gardens (West Palm Beach, Fla.).
“Macy's is a perfect fit for Lush's expansion plans into the U.S. market,” said North American ceo Mark Wolverton. “We have a huge pent up demand for the brand in the U.S. after years of only a mail order offering into the market. Within Macy's, Lush will maintain our brand look and image. [A]lready, we are in discussion to expand the rollout to additional locations nationwide based on our experience this holiday season. This deal, along with our current mall, street front and airport store rollout program of 60 stores per year, secures Lush as a significant brand in the U.S. market.”
Lush stores are known for their grocery store approach to selling soaps, with wooden crates and bins, chalkboard signage and the products merchandised as candies, gelatins, cheese and other food products.