Dive Brief:
Target on Friday announced that its men's Goodfellow brand would be expanding to include grooming products after a year of testing. The grooming line launched in stores and online May 19, according to a company press release.
The brand includes more than 30 products, ranging from beard, face, hair and body care, to fragrances and accessories. The line is priced between $3.99 and $16.99, 20% less than "comparable premium brands," according to the company.
Products in the grooming line fall under the Target Clean label and were made in line with Target's 2020 chemical strategy.
Dive Insight:
Target's Goodfellow men's apparel brand first launched almost two years ago and, according to the company, it's poised to be a "nearly $1 billion brand by 2020." That popularity played a big part in the expansion into men's grooming, an increasingly popular category, according to Mark Tritton, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Target.
"Our Goodfellow & Co guest loves the brand, and with the introduction of a grooming assortment it'll become even more of a one-stop-shop for those guests," he said in a statement. "Grooming is a growing business and we've seen a new level of demand for specialty, premium products. Goodfellow & Co grooming was created to better meet that demand with products that we can ensure are effective and affordable."
The market opportunity in men's grooming arguably came to the forefront with the founding of brands like Dollar Shave Club and Harry's, both of which have since been acquired. The former, acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016, has gone far beyond its razor and shaving cream roots. The brand now sells face cleanser, body wash, shampoo and toothpaste, among other things, and further expanded its product offerings in March to include deodorant sticks and wipes.
Harry's, on the other hand, was just acquired earlier this month by Edgewell Personal Care Company, the owner of Schick, for $1.4 billion, underscoring a trend of CPG companies acquiring small startups making big waves. That includes personal care categories outside of shaving, like natural deodorant brand Native, which was acquired by P&G in 2017 and has since been on a rapid expansion run.
Target has played the part of the perfect brick-and-mortar partner for many of the hottest DTC brands, including both Harry's and Native, lending them valuable store space in return for upping its own cheap-chic image. But the retailer's private labels haven't suffered and have been a core focus for the retailer. Target has launched multiple in apparel and home goods recently, and has also taken advantage of popular consumer trends like sustainability to debut its own carefully positioned labels.
As a product category quickly gathering steam, grooming seems to be a natural fit in the big box retailer's stable.
Filed Under: Marketing, Consumer Trends
