Tennis champion Serena Williams launched a direct-to-consumer makeup brand named Wyn Beauty on April 4.
Williams is selling the brand online at WynBeauty.com, as well as at Ulta.com and about half (685) of Ulta stores as a part of an exclusive agreement.
Wyn Beauty’s launch strategy
Ulta did not respond to a request for comment on the nature of the partnership. Celebrity partnerships — in which a retail chain carries and promotes a celebrity’s product — all operate differently, said Paula Rosenblum, co-founder and managing partner at retail consulting firm RSR Research. Because Williams founded Wyn Beauty, she can draw royalties and salaries from the brand, Rosenblum said.
Celebrity beauty brands are not new to consumers, but a deal with Serena Williams could give a boost to Ulta, Rosenblum said.
“Ulta seems to be in a battle for supremacy with Sephora, and the exclusivity with Ulta should add a pop to a chain that I feel has become over-stored,” Rosenblum said.
If stores are too close together, they will cannibalize each other’s sales, Rosenblum said. Ulta has 1,355 stores, according to Digital Commerce 360 data, plus 510 store-within-stores at mass merchant Target Corp.
Ulta’s deal with Wyn Beauty gives Ulta a product line that is tied to an interesting demographic, Rosenblum says.
“There’s a lot to like in the branding,” Rosenblum said. “Serena is a winner for sure and has demonstrated a lot of times that you can be sexy in a non-traditional way and also be the absolute best at what you do.”
Monica Arnaudo, chief merchandising officer at Ulta Beauty, echoed this sentiment in the press release announcing the product line.
“At Ulta Beauty, we’re committed to celebrating beauty in all its forms so that everyone can express themselves through the products we offer,” Arnaudo said. “Wyn Beauty is a shining example of this.”
Williams also is a woman of color, a rarity in celebrity beauty brands, and can help serve that market, Rosenblum said.
Ulta’s larger Black-owned and founded brand efforts
Recently, Ulta has made an effort to amplify Black-owned and founded beauty brands. It expanded the number of Black-owned and founded brands it sells to 50. And in 2022, it launched its Muse Accelerator program, which provides eight BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) beauty brands with $50,000, 10-week curriculum training and mentorship to help the brands grow toward retail readiness and success.
Wyn Beauty carries 10 product lines in the face, lip and eye categories and 19 shades. The products are lightweight and formulated to be in motion, according to the press release.
Williams founded Wyn Beauty through a joint venture partnership with the Good Glamm Group, a personal care company that owns several brands including MyGlamm, The Moms Co., Sirona, Organic Harvest and St. Botanica.
Ulta is 39 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Ulta is the fourth-largest online seller in the Health & Beauty category in the U.S., according to Digital Commerce 360, behind Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., iHerb Inc. and Amway. Sephora is owned by LVMH, which ranks No. 3 in the Europe database.
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