franchise, we had about six stores and seven franchises.
Those stores started doing very, very well. The rumor
of the stores doing well spread, and we had more and
more customers interested in carrying products.”
Starting in 1992 and into 1993 the company started
to sell off their franchise stores in order to not compete
with their customers and from there they began to focus
on ethnic beauty supply distribution. “Where we were,
in Houston, Texas, we were one of the first people to
start the so called beauty supply stores. From then on,
obviously, other store owners started taking the example and asking if we could set up their stores just like
ours. We started setting up other people’s stores. From
that it kind of branched out. It was hard work but it was
rewarding,” Yoon explained, “I actually went around
setting up the stores.”
Beauty Done Better
Most distributors are selling the same products, so
what makes Ben’s Beauty different? “We always try
to emphasize the service side. It’s not just selling the
product but making sure the customer is happy,” noted Yoon, “The service side is the key fact in how we
maintain our relationship with our customers; again we
try to work with them and understand and meet their
customer’s needs instead of dictating that things have
to be done our way.”
One of the major ways Ben’s Beauty works to keep
their customers happy is by offering plenty of oppor-
tunities for customers to learn about the products they
carry. Soon shared, “At one time all the distributors
were having two trade shows a year, and it came out
to like twenty or thirty trade shows a year but with the
changing times they started to diminish. I think our
trade shows, especially the one in the Baltimore BWI
area, are a little different. We always have it in that location, and we are the only distributor who still has a
trade show in a facility other than a warehouse. We use
the BWI Marriott Hotel where we pay for accommodation and meals. We’re the only ones right now who
are still doing that. Our customer base appreciates that
tremendously. These days everybody opens their stores
on Sundays, so for them to actually take time out and
come to the show, we’re very thankful for that.”
Along with trade shows, for the last four years
they’ve offered a unique seminar system that allows
store owners to learn about and try new products without the financial risk. The program is a hit with both the
store owners and the manufacturing companies. “That
was the whole concept behind the seminar—to say
‘Hey, let’s get this product out on the shelves to let the
consumer decide if this product is going to sell without putting a big financial burden on the store owners
since their cash flow is tight.’ Plus, for manufacturing
companies the life and blood is new products. If people
don’t buy new products sooner or later they’re going
to close down. So for them it’s kind of a win-win situation.” Currently , the company runs several seminars a
year in Houston, Philadelphia, Virginia, and Baltimore.
Each of these brings anywhere from 120-200 stores. At
the end of the seminars each store leaves with a box
of products from four or more companies ranging from
$200-400 that they are then able to test out in their
stores. “There’s no contract,” said Yoon, “they could
buy from another distributor, but I just felt the need for
the service.”
Diplomacy and Distribution
We wondered, given that Ben’s is particularly keen to
service, if issues ever arise when trying to connect the
separate worlds of manufacturers and stores. “Everyone has their good points and bad ones, distributors too.
One thing I always try to do is to communicate with
the manufacturing companies that ‘It doesn’t matter
how good your product is.’ Without the beauty supply
stores you won’t have anywhere to sell. The same goes
for the store owners, if you don’t have products what
are you going to sell? Everyone needs each other.” To
that end Ben’s puts a lot of effort into making sure both
sides have the information they need, through the earlier mentioned seminars, or trade shows, and even online
catalogues that show the latest trends and new product
information. “There’s no perfect solution,” Yoon noted,
mentioning that in order to survive the recent economic
downturn beauty supply owners are paying more attention to product information before they buy.
After hearing all about the company’s impressive
history and dedication to improving the industry we
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