Sources inform ''Globes'' that L'Oreal SA (Euronext: OR) will no longer sell its Helena Rubinstein brand of cosmetics in Israel, because of declining brand recognition and sales. L'Oreal representatives have collected all Helena Rubinstein products from the company's Israeli franchisee, April.
Helena Rubinstein brand products have been marketed in Israel for years. Globally, it is considered a very prestigious and successful brand, marketed by the Lafayette, Bulgari, and Sefora chains, and most high-end cosmetics points-of-sale.
L'Oreal is taking Helena Rubinstein off the Israeli market five months after it stopped marketing the Biotherm brand products in Israel, another brand that is considered a global winner.
L'Oreal Israel general manager Nava Ravid said, "We didn’t fail. We could have continued selling Helena Rubinstein and Biotherm. This was a courageous business decision to reallocate the resources to other things. We have brands in all our distribution channels and at every price range to meet every need."
"Globes": What happened? Why didn’t it work?
Ravid: "Let's say that not enough happened, and we concluded that, looking forward, we didn’t see where the breakthrough would come from."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 9, 2010
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