Hardware Podcasts

Bluemercury: Marla and Barry Beck

How I Built This · 24 Oct 2022 · 1h 11m

What this episode covers

Marla and Barry Beck, co-founders of Bluemercury, explain how their 1999 e-commerce startup nearly failed due to being too early for online beauty sales, forcing a pivot to brick-and-mortar retail. They detail the strategic acquisition of a failing Georgetown store, the critical role of high-touch customer service in differentiating from department stores and competitors like Sephora, and the eventual sale of the company to Macy’s in 2015. The episode highlights their journey from a near-bankruptcy crisis to building a national brand with nearly 200 locations.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Bluemercury, Sephora, Macy's, Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, Ulta, EFX, Carlyle Group, Harvard Business School, The Body Shop, Gloss.com, eVe.com
Products
NARS, Dermologica, MAC, Bobbi Brown

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