Dive Brief:
- Adding to its growing list of wholesale partners, direct-to-consumer hair color brand Madison Reed earlier this month landed in 500 Sally Beauty stores nationwide.
- The brand will have 34 SKUs available through the partnership, including its Radiant Hair Color Kit in 18 shades, Root Perfection in five shades, ColorWonder Demi-Permanent Hair Color in 10 shades and The Ultimate Pro Color Tool Kit, according to a company press release.
- Madison Reed’s recent strategy to increase its wholesale presence includes ongoing partnerships with Ulta Beauty, Target, Walmart and Amazon.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 2013 as a direct-to-consumer hair color brand, Madison Reed has invested heavily in wholesale partnerships as a way to reach new customers. The brand’s initial foray into wholesale was through a partnership with Ulta Beauty that started small in 2017 and has since grown to over 1,200 locations nationwide.
Madison Reed’s partnership with Sally Beauty gives them another retail outlet in which to sell their products.
"Madison Reed is founded on the belief that women should have access to salon-quality hair color, made with ingredients they can feel good about, on their own terms,” Amy Errett, Madison Reed founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Through this mission, we are the first and only prestige hair color company to make the same salon-quality hair color our colorists use in our 94+ Hair Color Bars accessible to our guests at home.”
For Sally Beauty, the new partnership is in keeping with the brand’s retail philosophy to provide consumers a diverse range of hair care products.
“Partnering with Madison Reed allows us to bring another prestigious, salon-quality hair color brand to our customers in a convenient, accessible way,” Maryann Herskowitz, group vice president of merchandising at Sally Beauty, said in a statement. “Madison Reed's commitment to quality ingredients, professional results, and customer empowerment aligns perfectly with our mission to provide innovative beauty solutions that fuel self-expression.”
In addition to wholesale, the brand has been expanding in its DTC channel as well. In 2022, Madison Reed raised $33 million, which the company said would go toward growing its “successful omnichannel business.”
The company has also made changes to its C-suite as it grows. It brought on a chief revenue officer in 2023 and last month added a new chief marketing officer, Sheila Shekar Pollak, who served in similar marketing roles with Athleta, outdoor apparel brand Orvis and skin care brand Biossance.
