Estee Lauder Romania, an importer of luxury cosmetics, is banking on intense traffic locations, such as commercial centres or malls, to expand its product distribution network.
Marina Saon, 38, has been running the Estee Lauder Romania business since 1999. The company is a branch of the US giant listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company operates on the premium segment, boasting the biggest growth rate in the Romanian cosmetics business.
"Demand for luxury products is rising. Around 70% of the items we sell are from the luxury segment," says Marina Saon, Estee Lauder Romania country manager.
According to Saon, companies owning Beauty Shop-type outlets are dedicating increasingly more space to luxury products.
Estee Lauder Romania last year posted turnover worth 1.75 million euros, up 40% on 2004. The company works in line with the American fiscal year, beginning on July 1st and ending on June 30th.
In the Romanian 2005 fiscal year (January 1st -December 31st), the company reached turnover worth 1.58m euros. Marina Saon counts on similar or even more solid growth this year.
According to Saon, the Romanian market is highly appealing to producers of luxury items as demand continues to soar.
The company has brought in Romania the most expensive face cream in the world, which sells for almost one thousand euros. Estee Lauder has sold 20 such items in Romania since the range was launched last December. This type of cream is created in limited series, of approximately 7,000 pieces worldwide.
"There is a market for such a product in Romania. Originally, we were advised to bring a limited stock, but then we asked for extra products since the first products were sold out in less than a week," explains the representative of Estee Lauder.
Estee Lauder Romania has a single store of its own, located on Calea Victoriei (Victoriei Avenue). At the same time, Estee Lauder and Clinique are distributed in seven outlets in Bucharest and in one outlet in each of the following cities: Timisoara, Iasi, Brasov, Constanta, Galati and Ploiesti.
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