There is money to be made in the beauty and personal care sector in Turkey, as seen by the continuously growing interest of both foreign and local investors. According to a Ministry of Economy sector report, 46,000 local products, among a total of 170,000, are distributed on the cosmetic market. The sector grew to $2.2 billion in 2012 and employed 14,000 people.
Foreign brands on the side, Turkey has grown its own power players. One of them is Flormar, an ambitious cosmetic giant that sells products on six continents, with more than 50,000 selling points in more than 80 countries. The factory located in Gebze increased production capacity from 60 to 100 million units per annum. Last year, the company bought 51% of French company Yves Rocher’s shares. It recently opened single brand stores in St. Petersburg's London Mall and Pearl Plaza. The number of stores around the world has thus grown to 400, with the goal to have 900 stores around the world within five years. The plans include 250 stores in Turkey. Ultimately, the management aims at Flormar becoming renowned worldwide, alongside the sector's highly acclaimed and celebrated brands.
Daily Milliyet recently shed light on Flormar and its expansion plans, which for 2014 include store openings in Panama, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The outlook is good; with investments of 1.5 million Turkish lira in new stores on Amsterdam's frequented Kalverstraat shopping street, products rang up $11,100 in just the first day of sales. The sales goal for the first year is set for $1.8 million.
As the competition gets stiffer, the channels of sale diversify. Considering the massive increase of Turkey's online market, currently worth $13 billion, the interest of both domestic and foreign investors in selling products for the personal care and beauty sector on the Internet continues to grow proportionally. One such outlet is Britain's biggest online sales site for cosmetics and perfumes, Cheapsmells.com, which has started operating in Turkey through Bellamola.com. John Houslip, member of Cheapsmells' managing board, explained that growth is expected at a rate of 20% in the personal care and beauty sector this year, from the current 8% of Turkey's overall online market. No wonder the company has so far invested $1.8 million, aims at $6.7 million in sales, and expects 500% growth in sales in 2014.
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