Indy Beauty Leader Sells Studio BeautyMix at Fred Segal

There’s a new leader in indy beauty—NewBeauty–after Robin Coe-Hutshing, sold her Studio BeautyMix4,000-square-foot store in Santa Monica to NewBeauty, a media company. Studio BeautyMix nurtured such brands as Stila and Hard Candy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although industry sources pegged it at less than $5 million. The volume of the store has been estimated at $3 million annually.

“We love the heritage of what Robin started, the uniqueness of the space and the organic feel of everything that surrounds all things Fred Segal,” said Steffanie Attenberg, publisher of Boca Raton, FL-based NewBeauty. “Not only do we want to change the way women shop, but we really thought there was something so great there, there is already that cachet, and we want to bring that back in a more modern way.”

The sale of Studio BeautyMix to NewBeauty, orchestrated by Studio BeautyMix part-owner Intermix Capital Partners, represents a changing of the guard in an independent retail beauty sector that has struggled during the recession and is up against stiff competition from department stores, Sephora, Ulta and the likes of Duane Reade’s Look Boutique and CVS’ Beauty 360 concepts that are platforms for small brands. In the Los Angeles area, Apothia at Fred Segal in West Hollywood remains an important destination for emerging brands, but Fred Segal Beauty in Santa Monica closed its doors in 2008 after 16 years in business and has been replaced by Fred Segal Salon.

Attenberg described NewBeauty at Fred Segal, which will officially launch at the Studio BeautyMix location in the first quarter of next year, as an extension of NewBeauty’s editorial content, a venue for ongoing market research and a “children’s museum, but for adults — and all about beauty.” “This isn’t about how many products we are going to sell. It is going to be an experience,” she said. “We are really focused on our reader and our audience.” She detailed that NewBeauty’s readers average 39 years old and are typically affluent women obsessed with beauty services and products.

NewBeauty tested a retail concept for 18 months near its Boca Raton headquarters that provides the basis for NewBeauty at Fred Segal. The new store will cover the range of beauty categories, including skin care, makeup and hair care, and will merchandise products by concerns like wrinkles or acne. Attenberg said there is no requirement for a brand to be a NewBeauty advertiser to sell at the store.

The store will house a Sample Bar with a selection of more than 30 samples for customers to try, and a video studio for NewBeauty to use to record shoppers, staff or speakers and broadcast in real time on the magazine’s website.