Word: revlon
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...midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Charles Revson introduced opaque nail polish and created Revlon Inc. Ever since, the cosmetics industry has been regarded as a good business even for bad times. Women, the theory went, could always be counted on to spend at least some of what little disposable income they had to look attractive and feel good about themselves...
...some of the biggest and best-known companies in the business, including industry leaders Revlon and Avon Products Inc., have seen their fortunes slip with the economy. Revlon last year had sales of $2.4 billion, with earnings of $175 million. But during the first half of 1982, profits plunged 27%, to $68 million, forcing a layoff of some 1,000 workers in August. Avon, a darling of Wall Street money managers during the late 1960s and early 1970s, has also begun to suffer. The company ding-donged its way to $2.6 billion worth of worldwide door-to-door sales...
...reason for the squeeze on both companies is the strength of the U.S. dollar, which has crimped overseas sales. Revlon in particular made the mistake of force-feeding its gigantic product lines, 3,000 items in all, into small countries, where there was simply not enough customer demand. The company made a similar mistake in the U.S. by giving its retailers too many different products to sell, and at a time when high interest rates were forcing up the cost of stockpiling unsold inventories...
...grew to about $10 billion, but the growth rate since has slowed considerably. Changing social conditions have affected sales: potential new customers, in the form of women entering the labor force for the first time, are not quite so numerous as they used to be. Says Roger Shelley, a Revlon vice president in charge of corporate affairs: "That kind of shot in the arm is missing now, as we look forward into the 1980s...
Seminars involve long days and heavy concentration. The day frequently begins with a breakfast discussion and ends with an afterdinner session. Says Arthur Fish-elman, a vice president of human resources for Revlon, who organizes between 75 and 100 study sessions annually: "These seminars entail enormously hard work and total involvement...