MIAMI - BEAUTY's NEW FRONTIER
Cosmoprof North America's (CPNA) gamble on adding a Miami show to its long-standing Las Vegas event produced a big payoff. That's according to exhibitors, retailers, and industry insiders who attended the inaugural edition held at the Miami Beach Convention Center from January 23–25.
CPNA already announced a second edition in Miami slated for January 21–23, 2025.
“The success of the first edition of Cosmoprof North America Miami is really a positive signal for the development strategy of the Cosmoprof network,” said Antonio Bruzzone, Chief Executive Officer of BolognaFiere Group. “As a global partner for business for all beauty stakeholders, our aim is to facilitate networking and commercial relationships; starting from today we can provide our global community two specific events dedicated to the US market, enriching the global offer of our international platform.”
Those who attended confirmed it was smart to bet on Miami. “I have my own gauges. The traffic is always defined by the first day; if the first day is mediocre, you know the second day isn't going to be better. I noticed at Miami, at least from my perspective, the good traffic was even the first two days,” said beauty industry expert Jeffrey Ten.
The location received positive reviews from representatives of the more than 700 exhibiting beauty brands—more than half were first-timers at CPNA. The event welcomed 19,000 visitors, representing 113 countries, who traversed the aisles and attended educational sessions over the three days.
The inaugural edition attracted retailers, buyers, and distributors, including Belk, C.O. Bigelow, HSN, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Olivela, Target, Thirteen Lune, and Sally Beauty.
There were lines for on-site registration, said one exhibitor, suggesting numbers exceeded expectations. It didn’t hurt that the show was in Miami in January, attendees said.
"I overheard many buyers and suppliers talking about how they loved the weather in Miami at this time of year," said Chris Lopez, Marketing Director of OKAY Pure Naturals, a regular exhibitor in Las Vegas. “Considering it was the launch event for the Miami location, it seemed like a huge success. With business-to-business shows, the experience of the location is extremely important,” he added. “If the buyers feel good coming to the city, more business will happen. It seems silly, but it's true. And that incentivizes companies to set up their booth at the show, knowing the turnout is going to be huge.”
It wasn’t only the pleasant weather luring convention goers, but the proximity to markets deemed too far for some, especially those from Central and South America. Walmart Puerto Rico, CVS Puerto Rico, Icsitum, Blush-Bar, Aminco Group, Solfish, Grupo Exporta, DMujeres, El Palacio de Hierro, and Woolworth were among the companies from Latin America in attendance, according to CPNA.
The expansion into Miami signifies the show's commitment to fostering growth for brands across North, South, and Central America, according to Liza Rapay, Vice President of Cosmoprof North America. There were double the Latin American Major Economies (LATAM) participation compared to the Las Vegas edition, she said.
Nicole Musco, Director Product Development at jane iredale, agreed Miami had great appeal. "South Florida has been an interesting landscape for beauty with a growing list of vendors, contract manufacturers, and brands, as well as a growing professional beauty landscape. For many larger corporations, it is also the gateway to South America, and many companies have offices and distributors located in Miami or neighboring cities to focus on those international businesses," she said.
Miami, she added, attracted brands and products she hadn’t seen before. “Additionally, I found the section of Cosmopack with the manufacturing fascinating. It brought the processing to life for many visitors, and I noticed some of the machines were sold by the end of the show.”
One exhibitor confirmed his company saw customers from Latin America that it hadn’t done business with already. There were also several larger Canadian customers, he noted.
Abie Safdieh, President of Townley Cosmetics, sensed the excitement on the floor. Several distributors for Latin American retailers especially liked that the licensed beauty collections are nontoxic, plant-based, and have packaging in several languages, he explained.
Mayer Shabetay, CEO and founder of Ultra Panama in Panama City, was one of the retailers finding beauty gems on the floor. Shabetay—who has attended the Las Vegas, Bologna, and Hong Kong shows—told BeautyMatter it is easier for Latin American customers to get to Miami. He visited with several new companies he had not seen at other Cosmoprof shows. Among those catching his eye were ella+mila, Jason Wu, and ATTITUDE (from Canada). "I also saw some interesting products from Israel. We do carry some Israeli lines, and they sell very well."
Shabetay is adding or extending his store’s mix of niche perfumes, sexual wellness, makeup, and skincare brands and placed orders at the show. "Next week, we are adding a pet department."
The Miami location received such positive feedback that some wondered if its success could detract from Las Vegas. “Not me,” said Shabetay. “I never miss a trip to Vegas.”
CREDITS & REPOSTED: BEAUTYMATTER
