The world's factory, China, is always at the center of attention for everyone in the U.S. beauty industry. A large bulk of beauty products is traded between the two countries. In 2021, the U.S. was the biggest trading partner of China despite the trade war, and it did not change in 2022.
According to the quarterly report in October 2022, based on data collected up to the year's third quarter, China exported approximately $495,387,959,000 worth of goods to the U.S. while importing approximately $145,265,138,000. If you take a close look at a few categories (HS670420, HS670300, HS670490) relevant to beauty supplies, you see the trading between the two countries stayed in high volume.
โถ HS 670420(Wigs, False beard, Eyebrow and Eyelashes, switches and the like of Human Hair) ์์ถ์ ํต๊ณ
Import/Export statistics for HS 670420 (Wigs, False beard, Eyebrow and Eyelashes, switches and the like of Human Hair)
2021๋
2022๋ (10์)
โถ HS670300(Human hair, Dressed, Animal hair & Synthetic material for wigs) ์์ถ์ ํต๊ณ
Import/export statistics for HS670300 (Human hair, Dressed, Animal hair & Synthetic material for wigs)
HS670490(Wigs, False beards, Eyebrows and Eyelashes, switches and the like, of Animal hair or Textile materials)์์๋ ๋จ์ํ๋ฆฌ์นด ๊ณตํ๊ตญ, ๋
If you divide the category into import and export, China exported the most to Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, the United States, and South Korea, followed by Hong Kong, North Korea, Germany, Myanmar, and India. Imports were mostly from Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Korea. Those are probably related to human hair production in India, Myanmar and synthetic hair production in Bangladesh. Notably, Chinese had negative balance in trade with Myanmar and India.
HS670490 (Wigs, False beards, Eyebrows and Eyelashes, switches and the like, of Animal hair or Textile materials) showed most trade with South Africa, Nigeria, the United States, Hong Kong, and Ghana. In 2021, Nigeria topped the list followed by the U.S., but South Africa surpassed both countries and recorded the most import and export in this category.
China has strictly implemented the zero-Covid policy ever since the onset of the pandemic. This worried many global economists and resulted in gloomy forecast for Chinese market, and the last yearโs operational mishaps for Shanghai port, the largest port system in China, have raised concerns for looming crisis. However, according to the trade statistics, China has maintained about the same level of trade as previous yearโs.
In May 2022, the first China Beauty Virtual Expo was held online. ยฉchinabeautyexpo
China stayed closed with its strict Zero-Covid policy, but still foreign buyers could participate in variety of online events in China and communicate with Chinese companies through various platforms. Many companies in China also actively engaged in communication channels for international buyers who could not visit their factories. Another reason is that the global market is still heavily relied on China, the global manufacturing powerhouse. Chinese government made it clear in its 20th Communist Party Congress that China would open its door wider for other countries. The stance is to focus on the global market and draw more international investment.
Upon the commencement of 2022 World Cup, Chinese people were upset over people in other countries enjoying normal daily activities, and protests followed.
To calm the protesters, China announced that it would ease the policy in early December. The new policy stated that major cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will no longer require Covid-19 negative test results for use of public transportation and facilities.
Foxcon factory in Zhengzhou has endangered the iPhone supply in the U.S. due to production delay, but it is projected to return to normal operation, and the quarantine and isolation rules in China will likely get loosened for everyone including foreigners. Positive outlook for Chinese economy is looming. There are cautious predictions that China will completely open the door by the second quarter of 2023. It is necessary to closely watch the Chinese market and prepare plans for any change.
์๋งค์ ์ฌ๊ณ
Inventory Management Tips for 2023
Part 1. Taking Care of Obsolete Inventory
BY BNB MAGAZINE
๊ด๋ฆฌ
์์๋ ๊ฒ์ด๋ค.
Inventory is not a one-size-fit-all terminology. When an item is discontinued or no longer expected to sell, it becomes obsolete inventory. While you should maintain a certain level of inventory to prevent items from going out of stock, you do not want to have obsolete inventory in your storage or warehouse. Obsolete inventory causes a good amount of headache for retail business owners. Increasing the volume of sale does not necessarily mean more profit. In fact, keeping a low level of obsolete inventory more often leads to success. New wine must be poured into new wineskins. BNB will discuss inventory management tips for the new year in two parts: (1) how to clear up obsolete inventory and (2) how to manage inventory efficiently.
โWhen in the world can you count all the items? Weโre just too busy.โ โA beauty supply carries at least a few thousands of items, and a complete inventory of these merchandise is impossible. Not to mention we donโt have enough staff nowadays.โ When asked about inventory management, managers and owners expressed how difficult it was.
In fact, a beauty supply carries a wide range of merchandise. From the main hair products and chemicals to cosmetics, jewelries, clothes, and accessories, it literally supplies beauty to customers. It is not easy to make a complete list of all merchandise to begin with, and having a handful of employees to run a business means you are prone to give up on counting the items sold and in stock and inventory them regularly, unless you have a robot roaming around the floor all day.
There are businesses who do inventory regularly despite all these. On the extreme end, a beauty supply store in the East told BNB that they inventoried all hair products once a week. To place orders based on the exact counting, they do this, but on the inventory day, all employees are to perform inventory and customer service can easily become the second priority. This happens when you only do a single category of inventory. Now, if you do the whole inventory, you would probably spend half your business hours counting goods. As such, you can see why some business owners proclaim that inventory management is impossible for beauty supplies.
Display in a beauty supply. While the size and look of a store varies, every beauty supply is packed with merchandise.
Letโs say you order 100 pieces at $5 each, and sell them at $10 a piece. Whatโs your margin? Itโs easy math. You will earn $5 each, so 50% of your sales revenue goes to your pocket. The profit margin is admirable.
However, that is not the full story. You have 100 pieces to sell, not just one. You need to sell all of your stocks to get a 50% margin at the end. If you only sold 75 out of 100, and 25 became obsolete inventory, you only achieved 25% margin. If you sold 50 only, then you are even. You will lose money if you sell less than 50 pieces. To achieve the maximum margin per your resell price, you must have zero inventory at the end of the product life, but that rarely happens. Even for a very popular product, you will have less popular sizes, types, and colors, so you will be left with around 10-30% of the purchased goods unsold. You will have different scenarios for different product categories. When you order ten items, you have to think about how many of the ten will sell as expected.
Another thing to consider is the overhead. We only calculated gross profit so far, and you have to deduct the rent, payroll, and so on to get net profit. Hence, even if you buy a product at $5 a piece and sell it at $10 a piece, you will have 15-25% profit at most after deducting the obsolete inventory and expenses.
Many retail business owners think about selling more goods but not about leaving less goods unsold. This is when you, after making good sales, keeping the sales floor busy, selling at a good profit margin, still end up with a low or negative balance in your bank account. The clue is in your inventory. If you do not manage inventory properly, it often leads to your business going south despite hard work.
์ฌ๊ณ ๊ด๋ฆฌ์ ์ฒซ๊ฑธ์, ๋ฌต์ ์ฌ๊ณ ์ ๋ฆฌ
The first step to inventory management: clearing obsolete inventory
Interest and opportunity cost: the money you spent on procuring items is either loaned or money you could possibly have spent on other items. This is the biggest part of your inventory carrying cost.
You will likely be able to identify age-old inventory somewhere in your storage or warehouse. They are often 10 or 20 years old. The age-old inventory often creates dilemmas for retail businesses. They do not sell at the original price, but you do not want to sell them at loss. If you want to go great lengths to sell them, it often leaves no profit after the time and resources spent. You know they need attention but do not want to bother them, and they eventually get lost in your memory. So, some people call them โdeadโ stock.
Do you really lose money when you sell them at discounted prices? Dead stock takes up your space and does not generate revenue. If you paid for them already, your cash flow is stuck while they stay on your shelves. It costs money to maintain them, too.
Storage and maintenance cost: inventory takes up space, and your storage space is limited resource that costs you substantial storage and maintenance fees. If you have potential valuable use for the space, you have an opportunity cost, too. ์ธ๊ธ ยท ๋ณดํ๋ฃ ยท ํผ์ ๋น์ฉ: ์ฌ๊ณ ๊ฐ ๋ง์ผ๋ฉด ์ธ๊ธ๊ณผ ๋ณดํ๋ฃ๋ ๋ง์์ง๋ค. ๊ณ ๊ฐ๊ณผ ์ข ์ ์์ ์ ๋๊ฐ
Taxes, insurance premium, and spoilage: If you have a large inventory, your taxes and insurance costs go up. Some businesses suffer from high loss due to the theft conducted by shoplifters and employees. Decreased demand can reduce the value of the inventory, and some products deteriorate in quality over time.
This is precisely why you can possibly save money by selling items below the procurement cost in the long run. As small cracks can lead to big problems, obsolete inventory is taking away your profit margin little by little. If you identify an item as obsolete, it is better to get rid of them quickly. Carrying them often leads to bigger loss at the end. Unfortunately, you cannot simply sit and wait till the obsolete inventory goes. You need a plan to take care of them.
Effective marketing strategy to get rid of obsolete inventory
If you simply put away your obsolete inventory and leave it in a corner covered with dust, it will never sell. It is often a great strategy to have your busiest aisles occupied 80% by popular products or best sellers and 20% by less popular items. If you offer a discount or 1+1 promotion, you want to post how much customers can save in big letters.
Another great strategy is to bundle your unpopular items with popular items at a discounted price. You can use the popularity of some items to avoid big losses in obsolete inventory. However, you should bundle items that give some benefit to customers when purchased together.
Limited discount
You can limit your discount to specific time, quantity, and a consumer group to stimulate the purchase desire of your customers. Typically, you discount an item for a limited time period, but you can also apply a discount to customers who visit your store at a specific hour. You need to play the game with your customers.
Free gifts
You might think that giving away items for free would always lead to loss, but there is another side of the calculation. You can offer the free gift to customers who make a purchase over a certain amount or quantity (possibly varying gifts per the amount/quantity), and your customer may spend more money than planned to make the cut. Another way is to give a gift in exchange for referring a friend.
Offering a prize
You can run promotional events such as roulette, dart throwing, and lotteries to give out merchandise as prizes. Dead stock can relive their life as a pleasant surprise for customers. You will not only entertain your customer but also attract more customers by word of mouth.
Clearance event
In a beauty supply in Philadelphia, a seasonal clearance event is held during off season on a side of a parking lot to clear out the inventory and also to bring more customers to the store. It is only an example of a bold execution that is needed for inventory management.
| This is only the beginning of inventory management.
If you have cleared up the inventory, then it is time for a plan to maintain its efficiency. The key to efficiency is to set an optimal level of inventory and maintain it. What is the optimal inventory level for you? Ideally, you want zero inventory. However, unless the business is 100% make-to-order, there is no business without inventory. However, you would know the minimum inventory level which can be the baseline to run your business.
If you have too much inventory, it will lower your profit. If you have too low inventory, you will lose your customersโ loyalty. Having enough inventory can expand your range of offering and boost customer satisfaction while having low inventory can improve cash flow and reduce obsolete inventory. You need to find a balance to compete in the market and serve your business well and make an effort to keep the optimal level.
When to act
Once you fully pay for your ordered goods, your merchandise is your asset. But the inventory is obviously not cash. Each item in the inventory has its own life cycle. While cash does not lose its value over a short period of time, inventory depreciates quickly. No product is forever popular. Even the most popular products will lose their shine someday, and customers will lose interest. Generally speaking, every product goes through the following four stages from its release to disappearance.
The peak profit is achieved. Simultaneously, competing products will enter the market and hinder the sales, and less competitive products will be discontinued.
The market is saturated or consumer demand decreases. The product loses its market, and the sales and profit decrease. You need to consider reduction or removal of inventory.
Each product has varying length of stages depending on the type, marketing and promotional period, marketing strategy and so on, but typically products carried by beauty supplies have a short lifespan. Seasonal items usually have a shorter life cycle, and once the season ends, it becomes less desirable immediately. You need special care for them. You should be highly sensitive as your product goes through each stage and have flexible plans ready.
Inventory management strategy for seasonal products
Introduction: you need an eye-catching display before the season starts and promote sales early
Growth/maturity: keep your eye on inventory level to keep your items in stock. During the season, the competition is fierce and customers will not hesitate to go to another store for purchase.
Decline: to prevent loss, you need to reduce inventory level timely. If you keep a high inventory level based on the past performance, you will likely carry the items to the next season or turn them into obsolete inventory.
How do you know when to increase/decrease inventory level? You should rely on the previous performance data. Know how the sales went in the past seasons, what your current inventory level is, predict future sales, and then make a plan to keep an optimal inventory level. If you have not spent time on inventory in the past, you have no data to forecast the future demand. When you have to simply guess, the business becomes a bold investment relying exclusively on intuition.
In the coming February issue, we will discuss more detailed techniques including inventory software for efficient management, ordering strategies for optimal inventory level, and so on in the Part 2 of Inventory Management Tips for 2023.
Have you met grooming enthusiasts? The origin of grooming comes from grooms, or stable hands, brushing and cleaning the coat of a horse, and it often refers to the practice of brushing and cleaning animal hair. Nowadays, however, grooming has become a beauty trend associated with men who are enthusiastic about their fashion and beauty. As more and more men show interest in grooming, the cosmetics, fashion and beauty industry is developing and launching highly specialized menโs grooming products. Letโs find out why menโs grooming is trending, what are recent grooming trends, and what products you can sell at beauty supplies.
๋จ์ฑ๋ค Black men are moving on from masculine styles
Buzz cut and fade were the go-to style for many years, but more men are trying delicate and high-maintenance styles. These trends are somewhat distanced from masculinity. Especially among African American communities, society has demanded men a masculine look. However, the gender neutrality movement of late has seemingly reduced the social pressure for gender-specific appearance. Many men are sharing their grooming routines and tips on TikTok with #Mensgrooming.
*Gender neutrality, also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is an idea that policies, language, and other social institutions should avoid distinguishing roles based on sex or gender.
An NFL star player Odell Beckham Jr. is famous for his signature hairstyle. While being a football player, his hairstyle and colorful accessories often go the opposite ways with machoism.
A fashion icon A$AP Rocky, a rapper popular among the Millennials and Generation Zs, is known for his love for knotless boxbraid, which he sometimes wear tied-up. He wore a pearl necklace and other accessories to complete the look. Pearl necklace is a popular trend item since last year.
Overcoming hair loss with styles
๋จ์ฑ์ฉ ๋ฐ๊ฐ๋ฐ์ ์ฐฉ์ฉํ๋ ํํ ๋ฆฌ์ผ์ ๋ณด์ฌ์ฃผ๋ ์ ํ๋ฒ A screenshot from a YouTube clip on menโs half wig tutorial
It is a new trend that first appeared in barber shops. You can glue hair unit pieces on the scalp and trim the hair for a decadeyounger look. Mickey, a barber and business owner in California, has 520k followers on YouTube. Despite the hefty price tag and being a short lasting style, typically 2-3 weeks, a lot of customers visit his shop for the procedure. In addition, menโs wigs are also rising in popularity, and the market is welcoming new styles and products.
Hair volume mousse and spray can add volume in many cases, but they donโt work particularly well on textured, curly hair. In this case, hair fibers can be applied for a short-lasting style. These fibers look like powder but made of keratin, a fibrous protein, and they temporarily cling to hair and cover the area affected by hair loss. For a long lasting solution, you can try hair growth oil, moisture shampoos, and conditioners. Aside from medicated products, you can simply recommend products that are popular among women. Note, products containing minoxidil, a popular active ingredient for hair loss products, come in different potencies for men (5%) and women (2%).
Beard shavers and trimmers A typical man pays more attention to their shaving and trimming than any other grooming. As a proof, according to a market research conducted by Procter & Gamble, shaving accounts for the biggest proportion of menโs spending on grooming. The recent grooming trend has caused more male consumers to opt for longer lasting electric shavers and trimmers instead of razors.
Beard conditioner Facial hair tends to be rougher and drier than hair on your head, so you need a special conditioner. Regular hair shampoos can clog the pores and eventually cause ingrown hair and acne. Although you can find 2-in-1 products combining beard cleanser and conditioner, it is better to purchase one for each.
Beard oil It is an easy recommendation for customers who have long and full beards. Beard oil can not only moisturize the hair but the skin underneath. Beard oils are typically made of lighter ingredients, such as argan oil, jojoba oil, and oatmeal extracts. Strongly scented oils can irritate skin, so they should be avoided.
The future of menโs fashion and beauty is gender neutral Fashion and beauty industries are among the most gender-divided. You can easily see the โFor Himโ label on products sold at beauty supplies, groceries, and pharmacies, but things are changing lately. In a recent survey, over two-thirds of American men aged 16 to 24 reported having used or having an interest in gender-less beauty products, and an analyst at Forrester, a professional research firm, said although marketing campaigns specifically for men will not wholly disappear, the showing of extreme masculinity will decline. In coming years, consumers will start to prefer a product that is effective instead of being specifically marketed for their gender.
Shea moisture beard styling set
Lusterโs Scurl beard kit
Wahl 5 Star Finale Lithium-Ion Shaver
Kid Cudi wears a pearl necklace and
BY JEEHYE RA
Sally Beauty closing 350 stores Focusing on larger stores while Ulta Beauty plans for expansion
Sally Beauty, a beauty supply retail chain, is closing 350 stores and two distribution centers in Oregon and Pennsylvania throughout 2023. Most of these closures already happened in December 2022. The affected locations are mostly across the U.S. The Texas-based Sally Beauty has operated 4,500 locations in the U.S. and 5,000 globally.
Sally Beauty released a statement saying, โover the last several quarters, the company has been piloting store closures in various markets with the goal of maximizing the value of its large store portfolio and provide seamless omnichannel experience to its customers.โ
Decrease in the revenue is likely a part of the reasons for Sally Beautyโs closures. According to the financial report for the year ended on September 30, 2022, its consolidated net revenue decreased by 1.5%, to 3.82 billion dollars. The report is contrast to the solid recovery of beauty and spa market in 2022 despite the Covid-19.
In the beginning, Sally Beauty opened small, 1,700 to 2,800 sqft in size, stores in strip shopping malls. Initial investment for a location averaged at 66,000 to 68,000 dollars. For customer satisfaction, beauty supply stores are getting larger to carry more variety of goods and provide various experience. Sally Beauty is likely shifting its focus from smaller stores to larger ones. Its move echos the most beauty suppliesโ trend of scaling up the operation.
Ulta Beauty, deemed Sallyโs competitor, is planning for expansion in response to its booming business. It will open 50 new stores in addition to the 250 locations operated in collaboration with Target. Ulta Beauty is set to have 800 locations after the plan.
Sephora is working with Kohlโs to open 400 Sephora shops at Kohlโs locations.
์๋ฆฌ๋ทฐํฐ ํ ๋งค์ฅ ๋ด๋ถ Inside a Sally Beauty store ยฉSally Beauty
Just a few years ago, the lace front wig revolutionized the wig industry. Many people rushed to buy the lace front wigs, but the understanding of lace front and accommodating styling techniques did not catch up, leading to a quick dwindling of interest. However, as time passes, consumers better understand the lace front wigs and come to realize their full potential. Letโs find out how to use lace front wigs which get better as you know better.
๊ทธ์ค์์๋ ๊ฐ์ฅ ์ผ๋ฐ์ ์ธ ๋ฐฉ๋ฒ์ ํดํธ์ ๋ธ๋ฆฌ์น(Tint and Bleach), ํค์ด๋ผ์ธ ๋ฝ๊ธฐ(Puck the Hairline), ์คํํน์บก ๋ฐฉ๋ฒ(Stocking Cap Method), ํผ๊ณผ ๋ฉ(Foam and Wrap), ๊ณ ๋ฌด๋ฐด๋ ์ถ๊ฐ(Add an Elastic Band)๋ฑ์ด๋ค.
Just three main categories of lace front wigs
Front lace keeps evolving to have a more natural appearance. Regardless, the basics are mainly three variations: front lace, 360-degree lace, and full lace. Front lace is the most common type of lace front wig, and the lace on the front part, which is the forehead area, is what makes it a lace front.
360-degree lace wigs are often confused with full lace, but 360-degree lace only refers to the lace attached to the edges along the head circumference. These wigs are made to accommodate ponytail hairdos.
Full lace wigs are fully made of lace. You can simply think of handmade wigs. They are hand-tied on lace that lays throughout the entirety of the wig, so they are not only light but also very natural looking. The wider the lace is, the more you need to hand-tie the hair, so more lace typically means more manufacturing cost and a better, natural fit. The manufacturing cost translates to expensive products, which is the drawback of full lace.
Beyond natural, made to perfection
Lace-front wigs are made to allow more natural-looking styles than other wigs have, but nonetheless, early adoptions did not overcome the limits of traditional wigs. Everyone has different skin tones, scalp colors, facial types, and hairlines, which makes it hard to make a one-for-all product.
Consumers and hair stylists alike have been searching for improvements and solutions. You can easily search and learn how to wear a lace front wig and look natural on social media posts and YouTube videos.
Some of the most common hacks are tint and bleach, plucking the hairline, stocking cap method, foam and wrap, and adding an elastic band.
You can tint and bleach lace to make it match your skin tone. You can use powder-type products such as Clairol Professional BW2 Powder Lightener in combination with a volume 30 developer. First, mix them into thick, no-drip consistency, apply on lace using a brush or old toothbrush, and leave it for two minutes before rinsing.
To prevent yellowing of the lace, you can rinse it with neutralizing shampoos such as Clairol Professional Shimmer Lights. After this, you can grab a tint (or a semi-permanent color) that matches your skin color, mix it with hot water, and try the color on a white fabric or paper towel. Now, you can soak your lace into the solution till you get the color you want. Remember, it will get darker if you leave it longer.
ยฉKathy Odisse Youtube
Kathy explains how to prep a stocking cap before wearing a lace front wig.
๋ ์ด์ค ํ๋ฐํธ ๋ง์? ๋ธ๋ ์ด๋ฉ ๊ธฐ๋ฒ
Is it lace front or not? Braiding technique
ยฉFelicia Ducasse Youtube
๋ ์ด์ค ํ๋ฐํธ ๊ฐ๋ฐ ์์ ๋ค์ํ ๊ธฐ๋ฒ์ผ๋ก ๋ธ๋ ์ด๋ฉ ํ๋ ๋ฒ์ ์ค๋ช ํ๊ณ ์๋ค Explaining how to braid lace front wigs.
Braiding is not an option for many wigs, but lace front wigs make it possible. Some lace front wigs even come braided. When you braid the lace portion, it is important to make sure there is enough lace in the front so no seams are exposed toward the back. You can use tail combs to divide hair into sections, apply various braiding techniques, and fix braids with a small elastic band. After youโre done with braiding, you can do half-up or ponytails styles per your preference. After completing a style, it is often recommended to apply gel or mousse to affix.
You will utilize the stocking cap for wigs. Pick a light colored stocking cap and apply hair gel or glue on the hairline or the edges of the cap, from the forehead area. Cut out the part that has no glue from the front part, and apply powder or liquid foundation over the whole cap. This prep helps you to have more your own skin-like color on the hair part or along the hairline, resulting in a more natural look overall.
Even though the lace part is hand-tied, it is not going to perfectly match your own hairline.
Lace front wigs have more or less a straight hairline, and you can customize the hairline into the shape that looks natural on your head by plucking the hair. When you pluck hair strands, you should be careful not to tear or make holes in lace by applying too much force. When you pluck a hair strand tied to lace, it is better to pull upward or backward, instead of to the front.
Although lace front wigs have many advantages, the front lace provides weaker security than traditional wigs on your head. When you have vigorous exercise or an active lifestyle, you risk wigs falling off. To prevent wigs from falling off or slipping back, you can add an elastic band over the lace front to create a secure and solid hold.
When the lace part slips backward, your hairline will be exposed to your embarrassment. You definitely want to work in this area. You can buy any bands from Amazon or your local beauty supply store. Measure your head circumference, wear a band and see if the band creates too much tension causing discomfort. Elastic bands will be placed toward the back when you wear a wig. To learn about how to make an elastic band work for your wig, watch the following video.
Sharing a tip to wear a lace front like your own hair using foam and wrap technique. ยฉIAmErickaJ Youtube
Foaming lotions are, unlike gels, soft and flexible enough to style hairline into your preference. Also, it will be easy to take off wigs. After applying foam, you comb hair to style, affix the worked-on area with a satin scarf or something like that, and blow dry. ๊ฐ์ฅ ํซํ ํค์ด๋ผ์ธ, ํผ๊ณผ ๋ฉ
This technique can be used to create a hairline of late trends. First, apply wrapping foam lotion on your hair to style your edge and hairline hair in order to smoothly and naturally attach along the forehead hairline for styling.
Unlikely events do happen Examine your insurance policy
BY BNB MAGAZINE
Insurance provides you great comfort for your mind while running a business, but it might be considered a non-essential expense in usual times. However, it can be a great help when you encounter an unexpected accident. It not only provides a cushion for the unfortunate event but also lets you have a mindset that you can overcome any difficulty. Most businesses do carry business insurance, but not many know exactly what is covered when to make a claim, and so on. For those of you who will be renewing business insurance and considering a new coverage, we will broadly discuss the essential insurance coverage.
Percentage of 3-9 employee businesses that do not offer health insurance
In May 2020, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota has angered many African Americans, prompting an explosive protest across the country. While most remained peaceful, riots, looting and arson spread across the states targeting police departments, groceries, retail stores, and so on.
Beauty supply stores located in Black communities were among the victims. A retail store owner in Chicago said, โI saw my store burning in front of my eyes but could not do anything because of the possibility of gun violence among others.โ
Another in Georgia said, โit reminded me of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.โ
Nobody expected such an event and the riots that followed, and retail business owners who incurred great mental and financial damages looked for a way to support themselves. Business owners who had sufficient insurance coverage to repair and reopen their stores could open their doors soon, but those who had minimal coverage or lacked insurance altogether had to suffer significant financial damage.
You pay insurance premiums for an event that may not ever happen, so it could be considered an unnecessary burden while it can be a great help when you encounter an unexpected accident. In fact, less than 50% of small businesses have business insurance.
However, business insurance is not just for significant damages like riots. It offers coverage for personal injury, workersโ compensation, and property damages, so you need to take a close look and find right coverage for your business. In fact, 40% of small to mid-size businesses made an insurance claim in the past decade, and 20% of the claims were for robbery and theft, and 6.6% for fire, hurricane, plumbing damages, and other property damages. Many beauty supplies have insurance. What coverage do you need?
Aftermath at a Buckhead shopping center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Also known as business ownersโ policy, it provides basic coverage for many small businesses including beauty supplies. Mainly, it combines property damage coverage for the building and goods owned by the business and personal injury coverage for others.
They are packaged insurance, so many people overlook what is covered and what is not covered. In many property damage policies, theft is not covered, so if your business has a theft problem, you should make sure it is covered. You should be able to prove the ownership for a claim, so you want to take pictures of your goods and assets and keep them in a safe place. Also, you can hire security companies and deploy security devices to reduce theft.
Insurance companies do not disclose the standard for calculating compensation amounts, so you need to determine based on your own asset evaluation. Generally speaking, you will be needing an amount to bring your business fully back to the before-the-accident state. If you have a hard time evaluating your business, your insurance company can help. BOP ์ฌ์ฐ ๋ณดํ ๊ฐ์ ์ โ๋ณด์ ์ก์โ๋ ์ด๋ป๊ฒ ์ ํ ๊น? | How to determine |compensation limits for BOPโs property damage coverage?
BOP ๊ฐ์ ์ ์ฃผ์ ๊น๊ฒ ์ดํด๋ณผ ์ปค๋ฒ๋ฆฌ์ง ํญ๋ชฉ | How to determine |compensation limits for BOPโs property damage coverage?
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ Employment Pract ices Liabilit y Ins urance
EPLI, or EPL, coverage protects the business from lawsuits brought by employees based on wrongful termination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and so on. Racial discrimination and sexual harassment are big issues in America, so you will need to take caution. You can make an insurance claim when your employee files a lawsuit against your business for unfair treatment. It usually goes up to $100,000 to a million dollars in coverage, and you can decide based on your business type and size.
Most business ownersโ packages include this coverage. It is essential coverage for beauty supplies that handle a lot of cash. From cash to checks and money orders, various document having cash value is covered. If you are a cash business, you should estimate your daily cash transaction amount and notify the insurance company at the time of policy purchase.
This coverage extends beyond the business premise, such as when you get robbed on your way to your bank to make a deposit.
If your business owns a building, especially if the building is old, you will be required to make repairs and improvements in accordance with new building ordinances or codes, which can be covered by the Ordinance of Law insurance. ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ Ord inance or Law Coverage
๋ค ์กฐ๊ธ์ฉ ๋ค๋ฅธ ์ปค๋ฒ๋ฆฌ์ง๋ฅผ ์ ๊ณตํ๋ฏ๋ก Business Income and Extra Expense coverage ๊ฐ ํฌํจ๋๋์ง ํ์ธํ ํ์๊ฐ ์๋ค.
If your business is in trouble due to fire, theft or other accidents, the insurance provides coverage for business loss. It will cover for payroll and other business expenses. For example, if there was a fire, the insurance will pay for the building repairs, property damages incurred by the fire, and any lost business profit during the repair.
The business loss will be calculated based on annual revenue. Different insurance companies provide different coverage, so you will be wanting to make sure Business Income and Extra Expense coverage is included.
Even a small business has a few computers in the office. When you are busy running a business, you often overlook the importance of securing your computers and data storage, which are critical components of your business. Cyber Liability coverage can compensate you for damages incurred by cyber-attacks. It is reported that 31% of businesses have cyber liability coverage
If a customer was wrongfully accused of stealing, they can sue the business for mental abuse. Abuse and Molestation Insurance coverage are for your protection when that happens.
Although it varies by the insurance company, the usual coverage limit is a million dollars per claim. Mental abuse claims are highly subjective, and it often looks into whether the customer felt disrespected rather than factual evidence as in sexual harassment cases. It is helpful to try not to cause discomfort to customers, and you should be always prepared for a lawsuit.
This coverage may not be included in the standard policy. If your insurance company does not include this coverage, you want to add the coverage by an endorsement, which requires an additional step.
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ Bus ines s Income and Ext ra Expens e ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ Cyber Liabilit y Coverage
๋ณดํ๋ฃ ์ฐ์ ๊ธฐ์ค์? How is insurance premium determined?
The insurance company pays employeesโ medical costs for an injury suffered at the workplace.
When your employee gets hurt while working, you are legally required to pay their medical cost. Workersโ compensation covers the cost on behalf of the insured business.
Workersโ compensation insurance premium is based on the projected payroll for the next year. If you have more than 5 employees, you need to disclose everyoneโs job positions, which will determine the rate. You can exclude owners and officers from coverage.
In an annual audit, if the projected payroll exceeded the actual payroll, you get credit, and if it is the other way around, you will have debit.
If your liability exceeds your coverage limit, the umbrella protects you.
If your liability exceeds your insurance coverage maximum, you will be personally responsible. In this case, umbrella insurance can help. You can place your business insurance and commercial auto insurance under an umbrella policy to protect yourself beyond the policy limits. Insurance can help business owners to prepare for danger and run a business smoothly, and all you need to do is to find out your business type and revenue for appropriate coverage. Mostly, you can have coverage limit of two to five million dollars, but coverage for certain business types may be limited. To get an umbrella policy, you must have $1,000,000 or more business liability insurance and $500,000 or more commercial auto liability insurance.
In 2023, you can reevaluate your business insurance needs based on the coverage options and financial status of the business. If you already have an insurance agent, you can talk to them to find out how to secure your business in the future. Itโs better safe than sorry. It will be better if you can realize potential dangers and prevent them.
Last February, I had a phone call conversation with a small wholesale business owner for the featured story โStores that thieves and robbers hate.โ The business owner in his 50s shared small and big incidents related to shoplifters and robbers that happened in the course of his 20 years of business experience in Jobber Market LA. We also spent considerable time talking about our home country. I called his number again last October for an interview. A strange woman answered the call and related a story that he passed away two weeks ago from a gunshot wound. The shocking news made me numb for a while, and I had to take a break from my work for a while.
Last November 15, in Atlanta Georgia, we experienced another unfortunate event. Ms. Hyun Chan Cha (69) who had been running a beauty supply store for more than 30 years in East Point was shot to death by a robber who broke into her business. The suspect was arrested on the same day, but there is no way to pay back for the precious life that was lost during the senseless crime that happened in daylight. She was an honest and generous businesswoman who was therefore the community for decades. She left her mom in the 90s who was living with her, making the sad news even more heartbreaking.
์ง์ญ์ฃผ๋ฏผ๋ค์ ์ถ๋ชจ ์นด๋์ ๊ฝ๋ค๋ฐ์ด ๋์ธ ๊ฐ๊ฒ Cards and flowers from the local residents. @FOX5Atlanta
์ผ๊ฐ ๊ณ ์ธ์ ๋ช ๋ณต์ ๋น๋๋ค Rest in Peace
Theft and robbery is on the rise as we approach a recession. You even hear people say, โI risk my life to do business.โ It is not somebody elseโs story.
What would you do if an armed robber entered your store? There is only so much you can do. Surely, you cannot just confront an armed person. To avoid the worst case scenario, you should learn how to react properly in the situation. Hopefully, we do not have another heartbreaking event this year.
* ์๋ฃ ์ถ์ฒ: Taylor Police Department/ Guardianalarm / StateFarm
Tips on How to Handle a Robbery
Do not resist the robber.
Robbery is aimed at money or goods, it rarely hurts anyone who cooperates.
Do not use weapons against the robber.
Introducing another weapon into the situation increases the chances of someone becoming injured during the robbery.
Inform the robber of any surprises.
If someone is expected back soon or if you must reach or move in any way, tell the robber what to expect so they will not be startled.
Follow the robberโs commands, but do not volunteer to help. The longer the robbery takes, the more nervous the robber may become and more apt to become violent.
Only give the amount demanded, if asked for a specific amount.
Include โbait moneyโ with the cash.
This โbait moneyโ could be a bundle of currency with recorded serial numbers or concealed dye packs. The silent alarm may be designed to activate by the removal of the bait money.
If the robber displays a firearm or claims to have one, consider it loaded and dangerous to your life.
Activate the hold-up alarm, without being obvious to the robber, and alert other employees by using prearranged signals.
Be observant. Try to notice as much as possible about the robber.
โข Physical characteristics(race, sex, height, weight, facial features, speech patterns, scars, marks or deformities, right or left-handed).
Any unusual smells about the person, i.e., drinking, smoke, etc.
โข The number of robbers and their clothing description, as well as any names used by the robbers.
โข Any peculiarities shown by the robber (i.e., smelled of alcohol, appeared to be โhighโ on drugs, etc.).
โข Description of any weapons used.(barrel length and color, automatic pistol or revolver)
After the robber has the money, offer to have employees and customers lie down instead of waiting for the robber to decide what to do such as knocking you down or tying you up.
When they leave, do not follow them. Lock all doors and call the police.
Preserve the evidence. For a chance of obtaining fingerprints, do not touch anything that could be touched them.
* Source : Taylor Police Department/ Guardianalarm / StateFarm
The beauty industry in the U.S. had a good year despite the pandemic and recession in 2022. However, inflation and a gloomy forecast for the economy cast some doubts in the long run of 2023. The silver lining is that womenโs spending was not significantly affected by the Covid-19 and recession, from sheds light on a positive outlook.
We analyzed a consumer survey conducted by a consumer research firm, the Benchmarking Company, in our effort to provide some guidance in your beauty product buying in 2023. The following data is not limited to the beauty supply segment but a survey of the entire beauty market in the U.S. It mainly deals with skin care and nail products excluding hair such as wigs and braids. Therefore, you should take into account your consumerโs regional and demographic characteristics.
The survey is conducted from March to October in 2022 and based on responses from buyers and editors in the beauty industry. They were asked about newly released products that were noticeable in 2022 and anticipated for 2023.
Beauty supplies were not immune from supply chain disruption in 2019, and many retail businesses struggled to procure enough quantity in time to meet consumer demands. Some of the consumers who could not find their usual products went on to find a new product. In fact, for many consumers, trying a new brand or product can be a challenge. Some are allergic to certain ingredients or fragrances, and others have their peculiar preference. When it comes to beauty care products, consumers tend to be nit-picky because they are applied directly on their body.
What new products were picked up by the consumers this year? What products will be chosen by the consumers in 2023?
Beauty marketers would agree that you need to launch an item that is not only innovative but also attractive, and before consumers lose their interest in newly launch items, you need to continually keep up.
71% of the respondents reported that they have tried a new beauty or personal care product in 2022. The list of categories in the order of most tried new products is as follows: ์
The largest number of people tried products in the facial skincare category, and a wide range of products were included in this category. Face masks including sheet and peel types made the top list with 17%, retinol products 15%, vitamin C 12% and CBD 8% followed in the order. In 2022, 56% of the consumers have shown interest in repurchase of the newly tried facial skincare product, and only 3% reported dissatisfaction for them.
Consumers are increasingly demanding more diversity in beauty products, and products must fulfill their desire for repeat purchases. Personal preference and desire need to be considered in every product to open their purses.
We will take a closer look at the three top categories for 2022.
Quite many consumers tried a new hair care product. After trying new products, the largest proportion of consumers reported satisfaction with their new product choice in hair masks (25%), followed by leave-in conditioners and dry shampoos (each 14%) and hair oils (12%). In addition, at-home colors, hair growth products and others made up 10% of consumers who tried a new product, and scalp treatment, serum, and shampoo bars made the highly satisfied list thanks to environmentally conscious consumers.
52% of all consumers who tried new hair care products in 2022 said they would purchase the new product again, and 34% said they would consider re-purchasing the item. 3% of consumers were dissatisfied by the new product they tried.
Lip plumping products made up 16%, eyelash extensions and faux eyelashes 15%, skinfriendly foundation, especially stick foundation, 13%, eye liners and eyebrow stickers and stampย s 11%, and eye brow pomades 10% in the 2022 newly tried product list.
Also frequently mentioned categories included highlighters 9%, glitter shadows 9%, contour blushers, cream shadows, brow waxes, which did not make the cut.
51% of the respondents indicated their plan to repurchase the makeup products, 30% showed interest in repurchasing, and only 4% reported no interest in repurchase.
According to the respondents who are representative of the general consumers, facial skincare, hair and makeup products will be the most spent categories for next year. In the additional comments, many respondents said they were looking forward to a product that is superior and more effective compared to the products they were using.
Age-defying, anti-aging products, exfoliants, masks, moisturizers, retinol or its alternatives, and serums made the list. Younger consumers showed interest in preventing skin aging, and older consumers in anti-aging and maintenance.
์ ํฌ๋ฎฌ๋ฌ๊ฐ ๊ฐ์ฅ ๊ธฐ๋๋๋ ์ ํ๊ตฐ์ผ๋ก ๋ฝํ๋ค. Eye makeup products in general, especially the innovative newer color pallet eyeshadow, products for longer, thicker, and fuller eyelashes, brow products especially stickers, contour, and skin-friendly foundation formulas made the list of most anticipated products.
The rising popularity of well-being products
One of the rising categories for the next year is well-being products. While hair, skin, and makeup led the pack, health supplements and vitamins are increasing in popularity.
Health concerns related to Covid-19 and increased interest in well-being will likely lead to bigger growth in the health supplement market. The beauty supplement market is anticipated to grow annually by more than 4.8% from 2022 to 2030.
79% of the respondents disclosed that they buy vitamins for hair growth and health, and 64% for nail supplements. Also, 60% of the participating consumers are reportedly using collagen for youthful skin and regeneration, and clear complexion, improving fine wrinkles and lines, and moisturizing skin were their reasons for taking supplements.
76% of the survey respondents who are already taking beauty supplements pointed to anti-aging as their chosen reason, and promoting metabolism (73%), stress management (64%), and weight loss and healthy skin (each 63%) followed it.
As shown in the research data, supplements and vitamins are already one of the outstanding categories for beauty consumers, and their future in the market is very bright.
92% of the beauty product consumers said that the beauty skin and healthy hair could be achieved to the greatest extent only through caring both inside and outside of the body at the same time. In fact, beauty vitamins are located near the beauty and cosmetics aisles in retail stores like CVS, Walgreens, Target, and Walmart.
Experts predict that 76% of American beauty brands will offer health supplements for skincare, hair care, and body care, and 77% of the survey respondents reported the supplements and vitamins from beauty brands were substantially effective.
Nowadays, big box stores and chain stores are carrying a wide range of products targeting African American
์๋ํฐ๊ฐ ์ถ์ฒํ๋ 8๊ฐ์ง ํผ๋ถ ๋นํ๋ฏผ Vitamins for skin ยฉtownandcountrymag
consumers. Although regional differences exist, in some cases, over 40% of the shelves were occupied by products appealing to African American consumers. These big stores are not likely to start carrying wigs and other hair products soon, they took away a large chunk of the general chemical market.
The advancement of online retail, the ease of price comparison online, and the convenience of one-stop shopping are making the importance of providing a wide variety of merchandise at beauty supplies greater than ever, and you can start preparing your procurement plan for 2023 with the consumer survey data to keep attracting consumers to your retail store.
In a not-so-big 5,000 sqft retail store, hair products fills the majority of the shelves catching your attention. Wig prices are easy to notice, and expensive human hairs are displayed without locks. We are in Minneapolis to learn about Hair Plus Wigs, a beauty supply retail store owned and run by Mr. Dongsun Suh. Like the store name, the store carries a wide variety of wigs, braids, and weaves. This Minneapolis Brooklyn Center location is not just one of three stores owned by Mr. Suh. He has explained his special affection for this location with a saying that it is the most profitable and successful branch.
50% of merchandise is hair: hair-focused business strategy
Mr. Suh introduced his beauty supply retail store as a hair store. While accessories and chemicals are carried, wigs are the focus of the business. Keeping the main frame of traditional beauty supplies, it wants to become the first store you think about when you need to shop for a hair product like wigs.
Two other stores operate with the same principle. Various wig mannequins are displayed, and the staff is well trained to assist customers to find the wig they want and can get outstanding service like providing a small piece of lace when asked about a sample. You can easily find stories about its outstanding customer service that led to satisfactory wig purchase on Google Review.
Even the most high-end wigs are displayed without locks so that customers can see and feel the product freely. Despite the risk of theft, customer satisfaction is the priority. As you can touch and feel the hair, you can have the shopping experience you expected. While demand is one of the reasons to have a wide array of high-end wigs, another reason is to give an impression that โthe store has good quality, expensive wigs.โ Mr. Suh says, โwe want to be the store that you shop at your happiest moments of life.โ
He hired a boosting company to make his business a top Google search result in Minnesota, and the social media campaign is also focused on hair. Comparatively, clothing takes a small share. Aside from seasonal goods such as Obama T-shirts, he makes an effort to maintain the focus on wigs.
Wig prices at a glance!
Hair Plus Wigs stores mark their wig price using color-coded tags based on price range. Written in big letters, the price is easily noticeable from distance and customers can find wigs within their price range easily. Human hairs are in white, synthetics are in orange, and so on. The color codes help customers and staff alike in finding and identifying wigs correctly.
4-feet shelving units reduce theft
What about theft risk for unsecured expensive wigs? Mr. Suh has specially ordered 4-feet-high display units so that employees can see the entire sales floor from the cash register. The unblocked view helps managing the store, and security cameras installed in various places can be viewed from the cash register on a large display. Theft does happen from time to time nonetheless. Mr. Suh says, โno matter what, you will loose some.โ However, he intends to keep the current display.
๊ณ์ฐ๋์์ ๋ด๋ ค๋ค ๋ณธ ๋ชจ์ต. ๋งค์ฅ ๋ ๊ฐ๋ฐ ์ง์ด๋๊น์ง ๋ณด์ธ๋ค. Overview from the cash register. You can see through the end of display units.
While 50% of the merchandise is hair, the other half cannot be overlooked. Neat display and bright interior is packed with a variety of goods to meet the customer demand.
Secret to get a regular customer? Discount and good customer service
When asked if Hair Plus Wigs has any special ways to keep customers, Mr. Suh says, โalthough itโs nothing special, we issue Thank You cards.โ About the size of a business card, this is a variant of stamp cards. 5% discount at the sixth visit to the store is rewarded, and 10% at 11th, 15% at 13th. In case of customer complaint or disputes with staff, he usually takes customersโ side and lets them have their ways. Although not always the staff is at fault, he tries to make the customer happy first and then worry about the staff
later. Employees are trained to avoid dispute and not to raise their voices.
Mr. Suh says, โno amount of kindness will be enough for people with bad intention, but you have to make your best effort to be kind to customers. In the past, I often stood on my ground against customers, but nowadays, I try to be a generous business owner.โ Overall, it is a local business. Mr. Suh has a business principle in which you do not make an enemy in the town because you cannot avoid meeting them again.
Started business as a hobby, but now he dreams of franchise
Solid core in business management basics and generous mind as a business owner. How did Mr. Suh become a beauty supply owner? Mr. Suh came to New York with his parent who was sent to overseas office in early โ90s. After graduating college, he attended an import and export company. Busy work and unsatisfactory pay made his life in Manhattan a tough one. Soon he followed his friend to North Carolina to find a construction gig, and he learned that Minneapolis issues the most construction permits across the U.S. He moved to Minneapolis and worked at construction for ten years. The Collapse of Lehman Brothers made him rethink about his future. His family members have also grown bored of the everyday life in Minnesota. In search of activities to revitalize daily life, he bought a beauty supply business from a retiring business owner. It was supposed to be a hobby for him and his family, but the business is now expanded to five retail stores. Two of them closed after the riots triggered by the death of George Floyd. He is now fully into business management and dreams of making next Sally Beauty.
Riots, not a crisis for the business
Two large riots following the death of George Floyd have heavily damaged two of the retail stores owned by Mr. Suh. One of them was even set to fire. When asked if it was his biggest moment of crisis, Mr. Suh did not agree. Investment in insurance coverage was a huge help. Mr. Suh says, โwhen we opened the business for the first time, we did not invest much in insurance premium despite knowing the importance.โ Hence, one of his stores was set to fire, but most of the loss was not covered. After the incident, Mr. Suh boosted the insurance coverage.
When the next store was damaged by the rioters, he could receive enough money to cover the previous loss. He raised coverage for items for a location where retail space is rented. For a location at a commercial building owned by him, he included all options including damages to the exterior so that he can recover fully from any loss. Mr. Suh says, โriots do not happen often, and the next could be in 10 or 20 years. But having an extensive insurance policy
Aftermath of the May 2020 riot inside a Hair Plus Wigs
made my worries disappear. Having more coverages do not necessarily raise the monthly premium as much, so you should research it.โ
The real crisis was in the early, depressing days of business.
Mr. Suh faced the toughest hurdle while preparing for the second store. Despite cash shortage, he had to increase the inventory. At the same time, a competing business pressured the wholesalers. Invoices piled up, and there was limit to just deal the situation. Due to hardship, he had depression and barely managed it with prescription drugs. After two years of hardship, the cash flow improved. He was a passionate young man and not afraid of anything. After the endurance, his business expanded, and now he is comfortable enough to help others in need with donation and other assistance. He is taking care of people around him and financially assisting people with vision. Although he is now financially comfortable, the hard days are still a dreadful memory.
Grateful for the staff who is like family
Is it because he has been good to others? Hair Plus Wigs have a very friendly atmosphere. Two African American and two Korean employees were playfully working in harmony without sacrificing performance. Mr. Suh says, โmost employees last at least five years here, and we provide up to a month vacation for Korean employees who want to visit their home country along with other perks.โ One of the African American employees got scholarship for a child with stellar academic achievement. When asked for a photo shoot, a male African American employee responded that he wanted to appear like a movie star. He did not frown once while working tirelessly.
Mr. Suh is very optimistic about Minnesota. 90% of population is White, but low-income families receive good benefits along with health care. Racial discrimination is relatively less severe, and interracial marriage is reportedly common. In the end, African Americans in Minnesota does not only respect their own culture but also othersโ. Most White population is of North European origin, and many African Americans in Minneapolis came from Somalia as refugees.
The death of George Floyd somewhat unjustly characterized the racial tensions in the region. As one of the Northernmost states in the U.S., the winter is harshly cold. On the other hand, people love to party and attend comedy clubs, so the demand for wigs is high. Mr. Suh sums up with saying, โwhile many think of it as a rural area, Minnesota is one of the affluent regions, and the future is bright for businesses.โ
In the time of hope, usually, in the beginning of 2023 you hear grumbles everywhere. Inflation, high interest rates, and recession all come at once. People say โwhen God closes a door, he opens a window,โ but what items can possibly persuade your unwilling customers to spend money? We met a person who can answer the question. For the last three decades, CEO Simon Kim of NOVA Brand Apparel has worked in the Black fashion industry in Georgia. We visited his everbooming business, despite the recent economic downturn, in order to find out what can be done to improve the beauty supply business.
Q. Please introduce NOVA Brand Apparel (โNOVAโ) for our readers. NOVA is an African American womenโs apparel wholesaler. The business opened in Atlanta in 1996. It started with kidsโ clothing, then menโs apparel, and eventually womenโs apparel since fourteen years ago.
Q. You have quite a history. Are you well-known in the market? It has been almost 30 years, and we have enough regulars to keep our business running without difficulty. Weโve been working hard to make the impression that โNOVA has it all when it comes to clothes.โ Another thing is great customer service. These two are the secret of a long running business, I believe.
The smaller 5,000 sqft retail floor is filled with womenโs clothes. In about a five-minute distance, 7,500 sqft warehouse is located.
Q. Where do your customers come from?
Itโs mostly from the six Southeastern states. Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee ... We have customers from Orlando or Jacksonville. We can also include Mississippi, Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana. 99% of the customers are African Americans. We are specialized in the African American market for womenโs apparel.
Q. How did you start a fashion business, and what made you turn to womenโs clothing?
After the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, many Koreans moved to Georgia. I was one of the
new arrivals at the time, and my brother-in-law was running an African American menโs clothing business. So, I thought I should do kidsโ clothing. That was the start, and I ran an import business for menโs clothing, which turned out not so easy. I had to hire a designer and bring goods in containers. I had to bankroll the business, but manufacturing cost hundreds of thousands dollars, shipping another hundreds of thousands, storing another hundreds of thousands, and payments were rarely immediately receivable. It takes a half year to recover the cost. I thought this was not the way to do business, so the rise of ethnic market for womenโs apparel at the time was my way out. I hopped on the bandwagon.
Q. Did you have any special items?
It was about 13-14 years ago, and leggings were hot. We simply introduced some womenโs clothes along with menโs, but leggings started to sell like hotcakes. At the time, the profit from leggings alone covered the rent. It was immensely hot. Then, I made a decision to go 100% womenโs clothing.
Q. Did you follow a single item to another field?
My wife calls me โrecklessโ because I make commitments without plans. Well, if you think about it, there is no risk-free business. If you are lucky, youโll get it right all the time, but thatโs rare. No business is childโs play. Fortunately, when we were all-in for womenโs clothing, the trend did not fade but continued to grow. In the beginning, it was one or two leggings items. Then, various prints, faux leather, and stretchable seamless types hit the market in succession. To my surprise, when we carry items, people find us in some ways. They were African American customers. From there, my business kept growing. I have to say I was lucky.
Q. You say you have many African American customers. Are they resellers?
Some own brick-and-mortar stores, but many do online retail. Koreans have the mindset that they need to have a retail space, but Black businesses tend to have a strong presence in social media and digital footprints. They often take a picture of themselves wearing the clothes, upload the pictures, and sell the items online. No rent or hired hands. During the pandemic, there was a rush of newcomers to the business. I noticed some unfamiliar faces picking up a load of goods and wondered whatโs going on. They were opening a new business with government subsidies. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to place an occupancy limit of 4 customers at a time and made a scene with a long line of customers in the morning. Even now, I sometimes make 5-6 trips between the warehouse and the store to deal with tides of customers.
Q. What about many beauty supplies carrying clothing items nowadays?
Just a few years ago, beauty supply business owners did not carry clothes. They maintained sectional divisions like hair and chemical, but it has become a new trend to have some clothing items available. For customers, it makes one-stop shopping possible at beauty supplies. At least to keep their customers from going elsewhere, they are carrying certain items for clothing options.
Q. Do you have advice for beauty supply business owners who plan to start carrying clothing items?
1) Start small
Many retailers complain about limited space when adding clothing items. However, you can generate synergy with other beauty items even within a very tight space. When you make some sales, then you can expand. Donโt start big and learn a lesson the hard way. For both retailers and wholesalers, a small thing at a time is a good thing.
2) One-size items
Beauty supply stores usually carry one-size-fits-all items in the beginning. Most seamless items are one-sized. They are made of stretchable and highly elastic materials, so they can fit from S to XL. For middle-aged Black women, you can carry one-size items that are made of nonelastic fabric but allow a very generous fit. When they are one-size, your customers wonโt ask more questions or a fitting room. Thatโs a go-to setup for a starter.
์ ์ถ์ฑ ์ข์ ์๋จ์ผ๋ก ๋ง๋๋ ์ฌ๋ฆฌ์ค ์๋ฅ๋ค Seamless clothes made of stretchable fabric
Cable Seamless Sets Knit-like appearance at low price. These seamless options are steady sellers. Twist cable is currently on top of the best seller list.
PU Leather PU (or polyurethane) leather feels real and very sturdy. Various designs are available in PU leather. โน ์ํ๋ฆฌ์นธ ์คํ์ผ ๋ ํนํ๊ณ ๊ฐ๋ ฌํ ์ํ๋ฆฌ์นธ ๋ฌธ์์ ๋ฃ์ ๋๋ํ ์ ์ฌ์ด ์ฆ ๋๋ ์ค๋ ํ์ธ ์ค๋ ์ฌ์ฑ๋ค์ด ๋ง์ด ์ฐพ๋ ์คํ ๋์ ๋ฌ.
African Styles Providing a generous fit, one-size dresses in exotic and bold African patterns are steady sellers among middle-aged African American women. NOVAโs pick for 2023 trend items
3) Mannequins are a must! Display is very important. When the retail space is limited or owners are reluctant to carry clothes, mannequins are a hurdle. Actually, mannequins make a big difference in sales. If you put up a mannequin in a high traffic area and change clothes per season, you can refresh the store display and the atmosphere in general. Some of my customers do a really good job and buy thousands of dollars worth of goods every week.
Q. Whatโs your take on the 2023 prospect?
In the last couple of years, our business has been good even during the Covid-19 pandemic. We bought a lot and sold a lot. This year, we hear about recession everywhere and are thinking about tightening the belt. Nevertheless, we have regulars, influx of Black online businesses, and increasing demand from beauty supplies. In the long run, I am optimistic about the future.
Q. Do you have anything to say to BNB readers and beauty supply business owners for the year of 2023?
For many beauty supplies, clothing items can be an outlier. However, if you donโt try, you will never know if they will sell or not. If you hesitate, others will be ahead of you. I want to say that you should start early but without pressure. Another thing is that I think people are overly worried about recession. Whether itโs business or personal life, having hope and staying optimistic is important. If you think positive, everything will be alright in the end. โStay positiveโ is what I want to say to all.
CEO Kim believes he is fortunate to have many good people around. Marvin (on left) who speaks Spanish has been an employee for the past 22 years, speaks a bit of Korean, and earned the trust of many customers. Currently, NOVA has 7 employees
Quick, convenient, and wildly unique! Beauty Plus is to release a highly anticipated product that satisfies the three most desired characteristics of todayโs busy consumers.
Melt LaFichu Bang Lace Scarf, or LaFichu in short, meaning scarf in French, is a silky satin scarf combined with 100% hand-knotted human hair lace frontal, for a quick, luxurious styling.
๋๋ฌธ์, โถ Baby Hair๋ฅผ Edge Tamer๋ก ๋ฉ์๊ฒ ์ฐ์ถํ๊ฑฐ๋(Esha Slick and Slay Braid, lock and edge gel ์ถ์ฒ) โท Baby Hair๋ฅผ See through Bang์ผ ๋ก ์์ฐ์ค๋ฝ๊ฒ ์คํ์ผ๋งํ ์ ์๋ค.
๋ ํ๋, LaFichu๋ ์ค์นดํ ๋์์ธ
์๋ฆ๋ค์์ Lace Frontal์ ์์ ๊ณ
์ด ๋ณด์ธ๋ค.
A Scarf meets Bang/Baby Hair
You donโt have time for a wig, braiding, or weaving but want a sophisticated style? You can simply cover your head with a scarf, but that is not going to be enough for you. Instead, styling a bang or baby hair can perfect your look in a short time. LaFichu makes it even easier.
How to style LaFichu
The baby hair on Natural Hair Lace Frontal is attached to the front part of the scarf, so โถ use your edge tamer to style the baby hair (using Esha Slik and Slay braid lock and edge gel) or โท naturally style the baby hair for a see-through bang look.
In addition, the LaFichu has beautiful graphics inspired by artworks of famous painters, so you can simply wear the scarf after removing Lace Frontal for a sophisticated look.
์ฐ์ถ๋ฒ์ ์๊ณ ์ถ๋ค๋ฉด ์ค์บํ์ธ์.
The Oneโs Everyday Jewelry ๋ฌ ์ ํ ๋ฐ ์ ํ
Available in five designs and various sizes (8โ and 10โ for bracelets and anklets; 18โ, 20โ, and 24โ for necklaces) Fully covered with cubic stones (fully iced out) for a luxurious look ํ ํ์ฌ๋ณด๋ค ๊ฒฝ์๋ ฅ ์๋ ๊ฐ๊ฒฉ ๋๋น ํ๊ตญ์์ ์์ ํ 14KT ์ฒด์ธ์ ๊น๋ํ ๋ง๊ฐ๊ณผ ์ ๊ตํ ํ๋ฆฌํฐ 14kt chain imported from South Korea in sophisticated finish and premium quality at a very competitive price ๋ง์ผ์์ ๊พธ์คํ ์ฌ๋๋ฐ์์จ Cuban, Figaro, Mariner, Rope, Miami, & Herringbone ์ฒด์ธ ์คํ์ผ Cuban, Figaro, Mariner, rope, Miami, and Herringbone style chains that have been loved for a long time in the market.
THE ONE ์ ํ์ ๊ฐ์น๋ฅผ ๋ํ๋ ๋์คํ๋ ์ด
From over the counter display to floor spin display and cabinets, various shapes of shiny and bright LED display units are available.
Despite being a two-year-old company, it is already making strides in the beauty supply market with young and intuitive design and innovative ideas. Based in Florida, it has opened more than 800 accounts across the South and is expanding to other regions. The One is confident in its sophisticated brand image and quick response to consumer needs. THE ONE์ ๊ณ ๊ฐ ํ ๋ถ ํ ๋ถ์ ์ค๋๋ ์์คํ ์ฌ๊น๋๋ค. ์คํผ์ค๋ก ์ฐ๋ฝ ์ฃผ์๋ฉด ๋ด๋น ์ธ์ผ์ฆ๋งจ์๊ฒ ์ฐ๊ฒฐํด ๋๋ฆฝ๋๋ค. The One pays utmost attention to every single order. Call our office to talk to a sales associate. Office 407-878-7274 theonej7274@gmail.com
With the rising cost of 100% human hair, customers want to create their favorite looks for a low cost and zero hassle. Offer the budget-friendly, grab-and-go pack of Batikโข Bundle with 4โx4โ HD Lace Closure to make shopping simple.
Customers get 3 bundles of Body, Deep or Straight styles in a multi-blend fiber thatโs resilient, tangle-free, and shed-free! And the free matching 4โx4โ HD Lace Closure allows them to part as they please and create a flawless meltdown. Itโs everything they love and expect from quality weave options.
Batikโข hair is where affordability meets quality!
Caricare shampoos are made of safe natural ingredients providing 6-in-1 benefits including no damages to scalp, naturally browning of gray hair, keratin treatment, repairing damaged hair, increased volume, scalp care, and reduced sensitivity. The formula turns your hair and scalp into healthy brown color. It contains no paraben, sulfides, silicon, or other harsh chemicals.
Tannic acids are antioxidants found in plants and promote protein synthesis, moisturizing and strengthening of hair. Combined with the gallic acids involved in browning of apple, banana, tea, and potato, they make up Caricareโs unique formula.
Daily use instruction: work hands to make foam with a moderate amount of shampoo, wait 3-5 minutes, and thoroughly rinse with lukewarm water.
To get the maximum browning effect: apply shampoo directly on the area covering gray hair, wait 3-5 minutes, shampoo as usual, and rinse with lukewarm water.
After daily use for 4 weeks, you can expect the quick browning action.
Caricare Intensive Repair Conditioner is designed to be used with Caricare Naturally Darkening Shampoo and is made of 7 naturally derived black food extracts to provide care for damaged hair and nourishing effects. Four mildly stimulating oils for hair moisturizing and coating deliver natural antioxidants to damaged hair. It is free of silicon, surfactants, mineral oil, gluten, paraben, and coloring agents.
While promoting hair color retention, hair damage prevention, healthy hair, and balance in lipid and moisture for naturally glowing hair, it also delivers a premium woody scent inspired by forest for your refreshment.
It is not to be compared with other bundle weavings and braids in the OTC market. Neophilia was born to propagate the innovative tape extensions and now comes upgraded with even more various textures thanks to the warm welcome from consumers. Opening a new age and new culture for weaving extensions, Neophiliaโs Tape ยท I-Tip Extensions are here.
What are the distinctive and unique features of Neophilia?
The special medical-grade adhesive for a stronger bonding and long-lasting strength do not irritate the scalp.
Second, available in various textures and curls
To accommodate people with different ethnic backgrounds who have different texture and curl type, they come in yaki, kinky, deep curl, jerry curl, water wave curl, ocean wave, and more.
Third, time-saving extension tape
Contrary to the weaving tracks of old days where sewing and gluing over cornrows were unseemly and burdensome, tape extensions are easy to apply for anyone and deliver substantially light and natural fit on the scalp.
The Evolveยฎ Satin Bonnet is made with undeniable quality and reliable functionality. The smooth, premium bonnet protects braids, weaves, locs, and other hairstyles while preserving them during nighttime wear. To fit your personal style, the Evolve Satin Bonnet is available in a range of hues, from solid colors to stylish patterns. The Evolve Satin Bonnet is the perfect solution for maintaining styles and promoting healthy, luxurious hair.
Available in Midnight, Sunset, Fuchsia, Mystique, Purple, Purple Snakeskin, Safari, Moroccan, Blue Leopard
13โx 5โ & 5โx 5โ with baby hair & melted HD closure๋ก ๋ ์์ ๋ก์ด ํค์ด์คํ์ผ์ ๋ง๋ค์ ์์ต๋๋ค.
โข 4 Styles (Body Wave, Straight, Bohemian & Loose Deep) 13โx 5โ & 5โx 5โ with baby hair and melted HD lace, you can achieve the most natural hair styles
โข 5โx 5โ 3X Multi-Bundle + Melted HD Closure
โข MID-LENGTH BASIC LAYERED STYLE IN NATURAL TEXTURE WHICH CAN BE WORN ALL YEAR ROUND.
โข NATURAL TEXTURE WITH GOOD AMOUNT OF VOLUME THAT CAN BE STYLED IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS โ HALF UP DO, PONYTAIL, ETC.
โข STYLE: HUGGING STRAIGHT
โข FINISHED LENGTH: 22โ
โข SPECIAL FROSTED HIGHLIGHT COLORS
โข GREAT QUALITY PRODUCT AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE.
AVAILABLE COLORS: 1, 1B, 2, 4, FH CAFร, FH CHOCO
DIP
KLIO HD LACE WIG ASPEN
Model Model Klio HD-Aspen ์ ๋ค์ํ ํผ๋ถ ํค์ ์ ์ค๋ฉฐ๋๋ HD ๋ ์ด์ค์ ์คํ์ผํ๊ธฐ ์ฌ์ด ๋ถ๋๋ฌ์ด ์ํฐ ์ปฌ์ด ๋ง๋ ์๋ฒฝํ ์จ์ด-์ค-๊ณ ์ ํ!
Model Model Klio HD-Aspen features an HD lace that flawlessly blends with most skin tones in a soft water curl that is extremely easy to style which makes it the perfect wear-and-go unit!
AVAILABLE COLORS: 1, 1B, 2, 4, OT27, OT30, OT530, OT CLOUD, OT COPPER
์ข์ ํ์ง์ ์ ๋์จ ์คํ์ผ์ Freetress Equal Lite
