Apothecary opens factory to meet the Northeast

An eye on consumption of the North and northeast regions, where the sale of cosmetics grows above the national average, the Apothecary will inaugurate on Tuesday, 16, in Camaçari (BA), a factory which required investments of r $ 380 million. The project is part of a package of $ 650 million expansion, which also included a product development lab at the company's headquarters in São José dos Pinhais (PR), and a distribution center in Bahia city of São Gonçalo dos Campos.
The expansion of productive capacity aims to leave the company with a "slack" to accommodate the growth of consumption until 2020, according to the President of the Apothecary, Artur Grynbaum. In 2014, the Group's forecast of a slowdown in sales growth compared to the average of the last five years. Even so, revenue should grow to 17% in 2013 and excess of $ 9 billion. This year, O Boticário became the leading brand of perfumery in the country, according to consulting firm Euromonitor.
For years, the company plans to reduce investment in opening stores. Even so, says the company must open Grynbaum at least another hundred units per year-today, only of the Apothecary, the flagship brand of the company, are almost 3.7 thousand units throughout the country.
To enlarge its presence, the company began operating two years ago, in the direct sales industry, competing directly with Natura and Avon. In 2014, more than 5% of the company's revenue--or about $ 500 million — should come from this sales channel (see box). For the Executive, as the franchisees operate direct sales from the stores, the speed in delivery is one of the company's differentials on porta a porta.
According to the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo reported, the decision to sell branded products O boticario through wasn't easy to consultancies. The company took several years to "embrace" the cause for fear that direct selling "canibalizasse" stores. "First the network punished the franchisees that were resellers. Then proceeded to ignore the practice. Finally, they decided to organize it, "says a source in the industry of perfumery.
Competition
The Group's investment in Paraná in new brands-such as Eudora, The Beauty Box and who says, Berenice? -and in the expansion of its development and production capacity is a response to the arrival of new competitors to Brazil, says Marcelo Cherto franchise consultant.
In addition to the traditional rivals Natura and Avon, he recalls, the company now also must face French giants such as L ' Oréal, which is occupying more space not only in the traditional retail (with brands such as Maybelline makeup line), but also with stores. The company bought The Body Store in 2013 and must inaugurate the first The Body Shop stores in the country in the coming months. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo.