Freemans dives deep into beauty, issues 'beauty call' to brands

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 24, 2021

Otto-owned UK digital department store Freemans is diving deeper into the beauty sector with a launch this week of a comprehensive beauty offer to complement its fashion and homewares.

Having recently taken on former Debenhams beauty buyer Michelle Fox, the company is focusing on make-up, skincare, fragrance, and haircare, with thousands of lines available for next day delivery. 

The brands available include Elizabeth Arden, Moschino, SVR, Pur Cosmetics, Revlon and James Read with more brands and products being added as the new beauty strategy evolves fast this season and into 2022.

It’s interesting too that the retailer has issued a “beauty call” for brands large and small that might be interested in selling via the webstore, asking them to email the team via  [email protected].

Merchandise chief Linda Quinn said the move into beauty “is another important step on the journey to meet our ambition to become the UK’s online department store of choice”.

As well as the arrival of Fox at the firm, the earlier appointment of Richard Cristofoli as chief customer officer meant the beauty move is far from surprising. At Debenhams he’d been MD of the beauty segment, among other roles, and was a major driver of the retailer becoming the UK’s premier seller of premium beauty brands.

He also said that the beauty call “is a simple way for brands to contact the beauty team directly” and it comes with a range of payment terms “designed to nurture and support emerging brands”.