07.11.07
The Top 50
New Faces, New Places
By Tom Branna
It’s been a year of transition for many in The Top 50, our annual look at the leading U.S.-based companies in the household and personal products industry. Avon is back to its winning ways with a transformation plan in place, while Sara Lee executives hope for the same results with a reorganization plan of their own. Meanwhile, Clorox is closing in on 100, but old age hasn’t stopped it from launching an aggressive growth strategy. Limited Brands, that retailer-turned-cosmetics maverick, is moving even closer to becoming known primarily as a purveyor of personal care products as it jettisons some less profitable units. Finally, Alberto-Culver separated its consumer product business from its Sally distribution group.
Acqusitions during the past year have also transformed The Top 50. Gone are some familiar names such as Orange Glo International (acquired by Church & Dwight) and Pfizer (its consumer health care business was purchased by Johnson & Johnson). Similarly, this is the last year in The Top 50 for Tanning Research Labs; aka Hawaiian Tropic, which was purchased by Playtex Products and Philosophy, which was bought by Procter & Gamble earlier this year. New to this year’s list are Bare Escentuals and American International Industries. At the same time, many companies have swapped places throughout the ranking.
Of course, some things within The Top 50 never seem to change. Revlon has a new CEO, S.C. Johnson remains the largest family-owned company on our list and Estée Lauder is still on top of the hill when it comes to prestige retail channels.
Since we started The Top 50 back in 1978, P&G has been No. 1. As it has been for several years, Colgate-Palmolive is a distant No. 2. Rounding out the top 10 in The Top 50 are S.C. Johnson, Estée Lauder, Avon Products, Ecolab, Johnson & Johnson, Limited Brands, Access Business Group, and Clorox, Coty and Johnson Diversey all tied at 10.
But regardless of their size, or whether they market cleaners or cosmetics, every successful consumer product company understands that the consumer is calling the shots these days—deciding what to buy, when and where she wants!
We hope you enjoy this edition of The Top 50. As always, we welcome your comments on our ranking, as well as anything else that appears in Happi. Be sure to read our August issue, which will include The International Top 30, our annual look at the largest manufacturers of household and personal products with corporate headquarters outside the U.S.
The Top 50
| 1. | Procter & Gamble | Cincinnati, OH | $49 billion |
| 2. | Colgate-Palmolive | New York, NY | $10.5 billion |
| 3. | S.C. Johnson | Racine, WI | $7 billion |
| 4. | Estée Lauder | New York, NY | $6.4 billion |
| 5. | Avon | New York, NY | $6.1 billion |
| 6. | Ecolab | St. Paul, MN | $4.9 billion |
| 7. | Johnson & Johnson | New Brunswick, NJ | $4.3 billion |
| 8. | Limited Brands | Columbus, OH | $3.1 billion |
| 9. | Access Business Group | Ada, MI | $3 billion |
| 10. | Clorox | Oakland, CA | $2.9 billion |
| 10. | Coty | New York, NY | $2.9 billion |
| 10. | Johnson Diversey | Sturtevant, WI | $2.9 billion |
| 13. | Mary Kay | Dallas, TX | $2.2 billion |
| 14. | Sara Lee | Chicago, IL | $1.8 billion |
| 15. | Church & Dwight | Princeton, NJ | $1.6 billion |
| 16. | Revlon | New York, NY | $1.3 billion |
| 17. | Alberto-Culver | Melrose Park, IL | $1.2 billion |
| 18. | Blyth | Greenwich, CT | $1.0 billion |
| 18. | Huish | Salt Lake City, UT | $1.0 billion |
| 20. | Elizabeth Arden | Miramar, FL | $955 million |
| 21. | Yankee Candle | South Deerfield, MA | $687 million |
| 22. | Schering-Plough | Kenilworth, NJ | $565 million |
| 23. | Acuity | Atlanta, GA | $552 million |
| 24. | Jafra | Westlake Village, CA | $494 million |
| 25. | John Paul Mitchell Systems | Beverly Hills, CA | $480 million |
| 26. | Nu Skin | Provo, UT | $454 million |
| 27. | Bare Escentuals | San Francisco, CA | $394 million |
| 28. | Phoenix Brands | Stamford, CT | $360 million |
| 29. | Del Labs | Uniondale, NY | $339 million |
| 30. | Combe | White Plains, NY | $325 million |
| 30. | Markwins | City of Industry, CA | $325 million |
| 32. | Chattem | Chattanooga, TN | $300 million |
| 33. | Prestige Brands | Irvington, NY | $297 million |
| 34. | WD-40 Company | San Diego, CA | $287 million |
| 35. | Playtex | Westport, CT | $230 million |
| 36. | Liz Claiborne | New York, NY | $226 million |
| 37. | Turtle Wax | Chicago, IL | $204 million |
| 38. | American International | Los Angeles, CA | $179 million |
| 39. | Burt’s Bees | Durham, NC | $170 million |
| 40. | Herbalife | Los Angeles, CA | $152 million |
| 41. | NCH | Irving, TX | $149 million |
| 42. | Philosophy | Phoenix, AZ | $140 million |
| 43. | OPI | N. Hollywood, CA | $128 million |
| 44. | Bonne Bell | Lakewood, OH | $123 million |
| 45. | Parlux | Fort Lauderdale, FL | $120 million |
| 46. | BeautiControl | Carrollton, TX | $119 million |
| 47. | Tanning Reseach Labs | Ormand Beach, FL | $110 million |
| 48. | Spartan | Maumee, OH | $108 million |
| 49. | State | Cleveland, OH | $105 million |
| 50. | Merle Norman | Los Angeles, CA | $103 million |
