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One person who has been instrumental in bringing many of these niche brands to the U.S. market is Nick Hudson, co-founder of Excelsior Beauty, the firm that spearheaded the Walgreens deal. Excelsior works with retailers and brands to bring masstige products to North America, and Hudson, formerly of Boots in Britain, is trying to develop the middle market. "In drugstores you have a big range of the multinational brands, while in department stores you've got a wonderful array of premium products. But you don't have what you have in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, a middle ground that gives the mass consumer some choice, a better selection."
So Excelsior has set about increasing that selection, all the while helping each masstige retailer differentiate from the competing drugstore chains. "People don't want to feel they have what other people have in a one-size-fits-all kind of way," says Hudson. "It's about finding something a little different."
And finding it they are. After all, 36% of Nuxe's sales in the U.S. are from the Internet, meaning that even before Nuxe permeates the American market, the American market is finding Nuxe—without advertising in national media. With greater awareness of niche brands through the Internet and elsewhere, the consumer is the driving force, opening up the market like never before. "This is the most exciting time for cosmetics," says Freedman, who is also working with Naturetis, a new organic skin-care brand from Vichy, France. "Right now there's so much possibility, and it's so refreshing after so much sameness. With all these new brands, it's like being a kid in a candy store."