Interview with SLFMKR: Tips on how a beauty brand can get picked up by retailers

Kait Turshen, founder and CEO of SLFMKR

Kait Turshen is the founder + CEO of SLFMKR, an e-commerce and brick-and-mortar Shaker Heights, Ohio shop devoted to clean beauty and self-care. After 13 years in the fast-paced fashion and beauty industry in NYC, working for global brands like Free People, Tommy Hilfiger, BCBGMAXAZRIA, and Malin + Goetz, she pivoted her career after the stress and schedule of the industry started taking a physical toll on her body. Kait developed more than thirty food allergies, leaky gut syndrome, candida, and more, all while battling constant fatigue, headaches, and staving off some sort of illness that was going around the office. She was always sick, and she was always tired. Her body was crying for help. In her thirties, she began a new path of health challenges, this time in the realm of fertility.

Finally, in a state of despair, she started listening to her body. She worked with a number of holistic-based practitioners to tackle her new but ongoing ailments. She implemented more self-care and less alcohol. She eliminated toxic products from her household and personal care products while shifting her diet. More things like meditation and movement with fewer late nights and bad choices. And this is where the ethos of SLFMKR really took root.

Eventually, her family left New York City to return to her Ohio roots for a slower, more intentional, more grounded way of life. Her husband opened a meditation studio, and here is where she saw the opportunity for SLFMKR to come to life in an actual physical space. Although his meditation studio quickly closed just a few months after opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had a vision of SLFMKR living on. The Van Aken District in Shaker Heights had become one of her family's favorite destinations, and it was exactly where she wanted SLFMKR to root and grow. She opened their dedicated store there in July of 2020, just a few months into the pandemic, and nurtured it through all stages of those wild years. SLFMKR just celebrated its three-year anniversary this summer and has undoubtedly become an indie clean beauty and wellness go-to in the retail space. Carrying established brands like Herbivore Botanicals and RMS Beauty to up-and-comers like Botanixx and OY-L, Kait knows what sells her on carrying a brand in her store and what sells her devoted customers into buying them. She was generous enough to sit down with FACTEUR PR on just how a beauty brand can break into the competitive retail market today.

FACTEUR: Who is your customer at SLFMKR? What do they want most when they come into your store or shop online?
Kait: The SLFMKR customer is someone who identifies with and appreciates clean, conscious living. They thrive on quality, curation, and intention. They want to do better by themselves, by their families and our greater world. Over 80% of our customers shop in person with us and I think a key reason is the customer service and education we provide. Skincare can be incredibly complex and overwhelming. Our mission is to help navigate that, whatever your starting point may be.

Can you describe your process for selecting and onboarding new beauty brands into your store? What factors do you consider when deciding to carry a new brand's products?

To begin, every personal care product carried in our store must meet our three pillars of standards: non-toxic, eco-friendly and cruelty-free. Beyond that, quality, efficacy, branding and aesthetics, and lastly, position and distribution in the marketplace are all taken into consideration.

In a competitive market, how important is branding and packaging for a beauty brand to catch your attention? Are there any specific design elements or marketing strategies that stand out to you when assessing potential brands?

Branding and packaging are incredibly important. I will say that again: branding and packaging is incredibly important. At SLFMKR, we have a very specific brand aesthetic in our physical store, on our website and on our social media feeds. The brands we carry also need to align with that. 

For example, having your product boxed is very important at our store, which often surprises people given our eco efforts. However, what is not eco-friendly is the need for bubble wrap and plastic fill that is typically required for shipping purposes when there is not a box. Boxes greatly reduce if not eliminate any need for plastic in the shipping process and can also be recycled, whereas bubble wrap cannot. 

What role do customer preferences and feedback play in your decision to carry a particular beauty brand or product line? 

We always love to hear what products and brands our customers are drawn to or seeking in general or at another retailer. If we continue to hear the same brand or product requests over and over and that brand meets our internal requirements, we would absolutely consider bringing the brand in. For example, this year we have had a notable increase in both sales and interest in our hair care category so we have expanded our offering and brought in additional sku's and brands.

How important are things like social media followers, influencer interest, other retail pick-up, and press mentions to your decision process when considering carrying a brand?

Social media following and retailer pick-up are also incredibly important factors when reviewing new brands while influencer interest and press mentions are added bonuses. A notable social media following indicates that there is a body of people interested in the brand and therefore they have established themself as a player in the marketplace. Additionally, every follower is a potential customer. In terms of market place distribution, the retailers that carry a brand are another indicator of the brand's "status" in the marketplace. For example, Macy's and Dillard's are very different department stores than a Berdorf Goodman or Harrods. At SLFMKR, we like to carry brands whose retailer distribution aligns with our values, our price point strategy, curation approach and overall "vibe." 

Could you share examples of successful marketing or promotional collaborations you've done with beauty brands in the past? How do these partnerships benefit both the brand and your store?

We have had great success with experiential marketing approaches, most notably in-store events in which we are launching or promoting a brand and centering an event for our community around that. In one case, the brand MASK sent their photographer for a sip and shop event we hosted with mini facials. He interviewed our customers for testimonials and took incredible photographs of the brand in our store as well as a video that we all shared on our social media platforms. It was a really special event, and their support was felt.

For a beauty brand that wants to establish a presence in your store, what kind of sales and marketing support do you expect from them? Are there specific promotional tactics or materials that you find particularly effective in driving sales?
We ask that brands provide digital assets that we can utilize on our website, in email marketing, and on our social media channels as well as ongoing product knowledge so that our team feels fully educated in selling the product line to our clients. Our customers are also very responsive to samples and gifts with purchases, so we love to incorporate those into events and special promotions. The more supportive a brand is for both our retail team and our clients, the better it typically sells. 

Given the rise of e-commerce and online beauty retailers, how do you see the role of physical stores in promoting and selling beauty products evolving? What strategies do you employ to compete with online platforms and attract customers to your store?
I still think a physical location is such an important component of the experiential side of retail, especially after the pandemic. From being able to see, feel, and smell products in person to having face-to-face human interaction from both customer service and product recommendation standpoints is invaluable for building community and a repeat client base.

As a retailer and curator, what do you think is next for independent beauty?

I think we will continue to see an interest and growth beyond skin care, such as the hair care and body care categories, which has already started this year. I also believe clean beauty will continue to dominate and grow as well as the overarching theme of aging gracefully with less intervention. Skincare and makeup will always be important, but the trends within each of those categories will always be ever-evolving. 

Follow SLFMKR on Instagram, and to learn more about Kait and shop her incredible collection of curated skincare, personal care, and wellness products, visit slfmkr.com.

Curious about how FACTEUR PR can help build your brand to help position and secure retail commitments? Learn more here or get in touch.