High-end cosmetic brand opens Cebu branch

A HIGH-end cosmetic and skin care brand sees robust growth in the Cebu market.

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics opened its fifth branch here at the Rustan’s Department Store on the back of strong demand.

In an interview over the weekend, Camille Loraine Flores-Oloan, marketing manager of Bobbi Brown, said it is the country’s overall economic performance and the strong purchasing power among Filipino consumers that drove the brand to expand its presence in other key cities outside Metro Manila.

Oloan said Cebu is one of the key cities that present a huge opportunity for them to boost the brand’s sales performance in the country. She said they consider Cebu as their “testing ground” as they plan to enter other key cities in the Southern Philippines like Cagayan de Oro and Davao.

“We believe that if the brand would do well in Cebu it would likely replicate the same market acceptance in other key cities in Visayas and Mindanao,” Oloan said, adding that since the soft-opening of the Bobbi Brown counter last week, Cebuano’s feedbacks have been “encouraging” and “exciting.”

Oloan said consumers flocked to their counter to test and purchase their products,
while some booked for makeup lessons.

“The growth of the luxury market is growing in general. Filipinos now spend more, I don’t know if they are getting more vain or richer,” she said.

According to Oloan, Bobbi Brown’s sale performance in the Philippines is growing at an average of 40 percent month-on-month, driven by the growing sophisticated lifestyle and the continued “hollywood-influence” of US-based cosmetic brands to Filipinos.

Bobbi Brown’s expansion in Cebu reinforced Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) managing director Joel Mari Yu’s earlier statement that non-Cebuano investors have poured in huge investment here to take advantage of Cebuanos high spending power.

According to Yu, at least P6.5 billion worth of new money is being pumped into Cebu’s economy every month from the cash contributions of labor-intensive industries like manufacturing and BPO in a form of salaries and maintenance and operating expenses. Yu said this “new money” led to the growth in support industries like malls, restaurants, and retail among others.