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Violet Grey is looking East for expansion — and it’s doing so in brick-and-mortar.
The beauty retailer is opening a shop-in-shop at Hirshleifers, the family-owned department store in Manhasset, N.Y. It’s the first big move since Violet Grey’s founder Cassandra Grey purchased back the business, alongside Sherif Guirgis, from Coupang-owned Farfetch in September.
“There are so many people who don’t know about Violet Grey, and when they hear about it, people really have affection for the story,” Grey said. “That’s how I feel about Hirshleifers — in the same way I’m obsessed with Zitomer’s, Colette, old Dior stores and of course, Barneys New York.”
Grey and Guirgis posited that both retailers have a focus on curation, which made the partnership a natural fit. “They have never had beauty — they have Chanel beauty in a shop-in-shop, and some candles and ancillary stuff for gifting, and they wanted us to curate a Violet Grey edit for their store,” Grey said.
“We’ve been longtime fans of Cassandra and her amazing vision. Bringing Violet Grey to Hirshleifers has been a dream partnership and we’re extremely excited to see our two worlds come together,” said Lori and Marci Hirshleifer via email.
To that end, Grey has merchandised the shop-in-shop — concepted as larger-than-life medicine cabinets — that belong to both Hirshleifers, as well as herself. “Our edit is so tight already,” Grey said. “As the founder, people ask me what I use, and this is not merchandised by brand. It’s merchandised by what we use in our routines. It feels alive. We’ve seen that in editorial before, but not in retail.”
On the business side, the rationale is manifold.
“Hirshleifers has a loyal base of high-spending clients,” Guirgis said. “They have an incredible sort of clientelling, and a lot of those clients also buy beauty and premium beauty. We think a lot of those customers will see the brands we carry in that environment, and it’ll be synergistic with how they’re spending their time at Hirshleifers. A lot of those customers will have a familiarity with Violet Grey, but we believe we’re going to be introduced to a whole new set of people and we can lean into the storytelling about what makes Violet Grey special.”
The shop-in-shop will also feature Goop products, a first for Violet Grey. “I got a call from Gwyneth Paltrow in 2018, who wanted to introduce me to Hirshleifers,” Grey said of the shop-in-shop’s origins. “This partnership with Hirshleifers likely wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Gwyneth, and we love some of her products, and we’re excited to put them on shelves.”
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