Marcia Kilgore

Last updated

Marcia Kilgore (born October 16, 1968) is a Canadian entrepreneur who has founded several companies in the beauty industry in the United States. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Kilgore was born in Outlook, Saskatchewan. [2] After graduating from high school in Canada, she moved to New York City to study at Columbia University. Unable to attend the university due to missing a student loan deadline, she began working as a personal trainer, eventually working for a number of celebrity clients. She also began taking classes part-time at New York University. [3]

Career

Bliss

During college, Kilgore became a personal trainer to make money. Soon after she decided to take a course in skincare, largely because she had personally suffered from acne since her preteen years. She began giving facials to her friends out of her East Village apartment. [4] [5] She opened her first single-room office in New York's Soho district in 1991, followed by the opening of a three-room mini-spa called Let's Face It! in June 1993. [6] [7]

In the late 1980s, Kilgore opened Let's Face It!, a skincare treatment center, in New York City. Inspired by her own preteen struggles with acne, she opened Bliss Spa in 1993, continuing to cater to celebrity clients. [8]

To accommodate increasing demand, Kilgore opened the first Bliss Spa in SoHo in July 1996. Bliss sells a line of beauty and health products, many of which are meant to allow customers to recreate the spa experience at home. Bliss spa is credited for starting the mid 1990s spa boom. [9] Its products and services are marketed with humorous names and slogans, [6] and by a playful "Blissgirl" character illustration which appears on products, catalogs and the company website. She is almost always dressed in a signature white towel and Bliss’ Softening Socks and Glamour Gloves.

In 1999, she was approached by LVMH who wanted to buy stake in the company, though still allowing her to remain Executive Director. [10] With the newly found access to capital, Kilgore expanded the business by opening another Manhattan location. She later launched Bliss-Labs, a product line of Bliss Spa focused on skincare products and bath treatments. [11]

In January 2004, Starwood acquired Bliss spa from LVMH for $25 million. [9] As part of the acquisition, Starwood launched Bliss Spas in several of its W Hotels in an effort to move its W hotel brand into the resort business. The first to be opened, that same year, was Bliss 49 in the W New York Union Square. During the next two years spas were opened in the company's hotels in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas. [12]

Soap & Glory

In 2006, Kilgore launched Soap & Glory, a line of affordable bath, body and cosmetic products. [13] Soap & Glory was bought by Alliance Boots in 2014. [14] The business was influenced by H&M offering affordable designer products through fast fashion and newly raised environmental awareness during the time. It was launched at Harvey Nichols and Boots in Britain with almost $100 million of revenue over a few years. [15]

FitFlop

In 2007, Kilgore founded FitFlop footwear, which is a brand of biomechanically engineered shoes and sold globally. [16] Uma Thurman fronted their 'Shoes For Superwomen' campaign in 2017 and 2018.

Soaper Duper

In October 2016, Kilgore launched Soaper Duper, a range of naturally-derived, vegan and cruelty-free bath and body products, with recycled and recyclable plastic packaging. [17]

Beauty Pie

In December 2016, Kilgore launched Beauty Pie, [18] a direct-to-consumer, membership-based luxury beauty products on-line brand. [19] [20]

Awards

2004 Bliss Soho wins Conde Nast Day Spa Awards. [21]

2009 Innovation of the Year Award from Harper's Bazaar Magazine. [22]

2020 Beauty Independent announces Beacon Award Winners. [23]

2021 British Vogue Beauty Award winner. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starwood Hotels and Resorts</span> American hotel and leisure company

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016. Starwood was founded in 1969 as a real estate investment trust. In 1995, it was acquired and reorganized by Barry Sternlicht, who was its chairman until 2005 and founder of the Starwood Capital Group. Starwood had 11 brands and owned, managed, or franchised 1,297 properties comprising 370,000 hotel rooms in approximately 100 countries.

Banish is an American brand of skincare products founded by Daisy Jing in 2013. The line of products includes oils, microneedling kits, vitamin C serums, exfoliating masks and other treatments for acne scarring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sephora</span> French cosmetics retailer

Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products with nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, and includes beauty products such as cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty tools, body lotions, and haircare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerlain</span> French perfume house

Guerlain is a French perfume, cosmetics, and skincare house which is among the oldest in the world. Many traditional Guerlain fragrances are characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "Guerlinade".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proactiv</span> Acne focused skincare products

Proactiv is an American brand of skin-care products developed by two American dermatologists, Katie Rodan and Kathy A. Fields, and launched in 1995 by Guthy-Renker, a California-based direct marketing company, that was endorsed by famous celebrities The range includes moisturizers, body washes and treatment products, but the brand is known for its three-step anti-acne Solutions 3-step routine consisting of a BPO cleanser, glycolic toner and treatment lotion. Proactiv+, a reformulation of the three-step kit, was introduced in 2013, and in 2017, ProactivMD launches powered by Adapalene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clean & Clear</span>

Clean & Clear is an American brand of dermatology products owned by Kenvue.

Ole Henriksen is a Danish skin cosmetician and manufacturer of skin care products. He currently lives in the United States..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bliss (spa)</span>

Bliss is a multi-channel spa and retail product company headquartered in New York City. The company retails its own line of bath, body and skincare products through its Bliss website, Bliss spa stores and at retailers including Walgreens, Amazon, Ulta, and Walmart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Tilbury</span> British entrepreneur and make-up artist

Charlotte Emma Bow Tilbury is an English beauty entrepreneur and makeup artist. She is the founder, chairperson, and chief creative officer of the makeup and skincare brand Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Ltd. Tilbury is a contributing beauty editor for British Vogue, and global ambassador for Women International.

Florence Sender was an American entrepreneur. She founded or served as a director of a number of companies. Sender taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-founded its MIT Entrepreneurship Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susie Ma</span> British entrepreneur

Susie Ma is a British-Chinese skincare entrepreneur. She is known for her appearance on the seventh series of the BBC television series The Apprentice in 2011, where despite coming in third place, she secured investment from Alan Sugar. Her company is Tropic Skincare.

Dermalogica is an American personal care company headquartered in Carson, California. Its products include cleansers, exfoliants, toners, masques, eye treatments, and moisturizers, as well as an acne treatment line for teens. Dermalogica has primary operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan and Ireland and is sold in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Rianna Loving is an American beauty product developer, actress, and a licensed aesthetician. She is also an entrepreneur and a published writer on beauty, skincare and cosmetics. She is the founder of Organic to Green. She has created brands such as Orgo Beauty, Beauty Cirque and Cirque Boutique, and refillable amenities for airlines and hotel amenities.

Nykaa is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Mumbai. It sells beauty, wellness and fashion products through its website, mobile app, and over 100 physical stores. In 2020, it became the first Indian unicorn startup headed by a woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DFS Group</span> Hong Kong luxury travel retailer

DFS Group (DFS) is a Hong Kong-based travel retailer of luxury products. Established in 1960, its network consists of over 420 locations, including duty-free stores in 12 major airports and 23 downtown Galleria stores, as well as affiliate and resort locations. It is privately held and majority owned by the luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), alongside DFS co-founder and shareholder Robert Warren Miller. As of January 11, 1997, DFS Group operates as a subsidiary of LVMH.

Pauline Ng is a Singaporean entrepreneur who founded Porcelain, a successful skincare cult brand, in 2009. After graduating from Singapore Management University, Pauline decided to forgo job opportunities at a Melbourne-based HR consultancy firm and another international marketing firm to take the road less travelled, despite difficult economic times in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluemercury</span> American skincare store

Bluemercury is a chain of American beauty stores founded in 1999 by Marla Malcolm Beck and Barry J. Beck in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The stores sell cosmetics, as well as in-store facials and spa treatments. In addition to selling products from other brands, the company developed its own M-61 skincare line in 2012 and Lune+Aster make-up line in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huda Beauty</span> Cosmetics brand owned by internet influencer Huda Kattan

Huda Beauty is a cosmetics line that was launched in 2013 by Huda Kattan. In 2017, Huda Kattan was chosen as one of "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet" by Time, and she was listed as one of The Richest Self-Made Women and one of the Top Three Beauty Influencers by Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenty (fashion house)</span> Fashion house

Fenty was a fashion brand of ready-to-wear founded by Rihanna under the luxury fashion group LVMH. Fenty was launched in May 2019. The fashion label made Rihanna the first woman and also the first person of colour to head a luxury brand for the LVMH group. Fenty was closed in 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "How Marcia Kilgore is Changing the Business of Beauty, One Brand at a Time:. Vanity Fair, by Nora Maloney, December 6, 2017
  2. ↑ "Finding Success as a Serial Entrepreneur". Business of Fashion, Kati Chitrakorn, December 1, 2017
  3. ↑ "Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  4. ↑ "Make a statement. Your own". Karastan. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.[ verification needed ]
  5. ↑ "Marcia Kilgore's Spa". Maclean's Magazine. via The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Pumphrey, Angela (2005). CoolBrands.[ verification needed ]
  7. ↑ Understanding the Global Spa Industry . Routledge; 20 August 2010. ISBN   978-1-136-35124-2. p. 74–. [ verification needed ]
  8. ↑ "This New Beauty Startup Is Selling Luxury Lipstick for Less Than Your Daily Latte", Vogue, January 6, 2017 by Celia Ellenberg
  9. 1 2 "Starwood Acquires Bliss from LVMH; Bliss Spas to Debut in W Hotels as Part of Acquisition of Spa, Catalog and Beauty Products Company" (Press release). Business Wire. January 21, 2004.
  10. ↑ "Beauty Pie founder Marcia Kilgore: 'I'm liberating women - we're finally taking the power back'". Evening Standard, Charlotte Edwardes, 24 January 2017
  11. ↑ "Marcia Kilgore Biography - life, family, children, history, school, mother, son, born, college, husband, time - Newsmakers Cumulation". www.notablebiographies.com. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  12. ↑ "Bliss Opens Its First West Coast Spa At The W San Francisco; Bliss Continues to Grow with Spas Set to Debut at W Hotels in Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas" (Press release). Business Wire. July 19, 2005.
  13. ↑ "Review: Soaper Duper Body Wash". Evening Standard, Annabel Rivkin, 21 March 2018
  14. ↑ "Boots acquires Soap and Glory".
  15. ↑ "Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore : How I Built This with Guy Raz".
  16. ↑ "The FitFlop is Getting a High-Fashion Makeover and That's Good News for Your Feet".
  17. ↑ "Soaper Duper: Introducing the clean, green bodycare revolution".
  18. ↑ "BEAUTY PIE | Luxury Makeup & Skincare Products Direct". BEAUTY PIE. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  19. ↑ "Marcia Kilgore Wiki: Here's What You Need to Know about the 'Beauty Pie' Mogul". Earn The Necklace. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  20. ↑ "The Cosmetics Executive Who Says a $2 Lipstick Is As Good as a $28 One"
  21. ↑ "Boho wins Conde Nast day spa award". 25 April 2023.
  22. ↑ "Marcia Kilgore: sole trader". Evening Standard. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  23. ↑ Group, Indie Beauty Media (October 2020). "Beauty Independent Announces Beacon Award Winners". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  24. ↑ "Beauty Pie The Brand That Will Shake Up Your Everyday Beauty Routine | Hip And Healthy". Hip & Healthy. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.