Making for a substantial retail expansion, skincare brand Loops on Sunday debuted in over 1,500 Target locations across the U.S.
The company — which sells hydrogel face, lip and eye masks — will also be available on the mass retailer’s website, selling four of its mask products (the Clean Slate, Double Take, Sunrise Service, and Weekly Reset), according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
For Loops’ CEO Meg Bedford, partnering with Target was influenced by customer input.
“It came as a decision really because we often do customer surveys across our engaged customer base and ask them where they want to see us and where they’re shopping,” Bedford told Retail Dive. “And Target was one of the locations.”
Loops has already formed partnerships with retailers, including Nordstrom and Ulta Beauty. In August, the brand entered the beauty retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores after participating in Ulta’s Sparked program for emerging brands in December 2021.
“It’s really important that we’re not just online, but that we’re also in stores. And we’re really looking at a complete omnichannel strategy,” Bedford said. “This takes us from being in over 500 doors nationwide to over 2,000 in a period of about six months.”
While Loops is making gains with wholesale distribution, the company is not turning away from its direct-to-consumer channel, according to Bedford.
“We haven’t shifted away from DTC and obviously we recognize that as a really important part of our brand strategy,” Bedford said. “We’re able to collect first-party data, we’re able to do different tests, are able to talk to our customers,” adding that access to that first-hand information is “equally as important” as forming wholesale partnerships.
Since being founded in 2020 by brand incubator Syllable, Loops has also focused on attaching celebrity to its brand image, most recently bringing on actress Camila Mendes in July as creative director and partner. The company previously worked with actress and model Emily Ratajkowski in a similar capacity.
And although it may be a difficult time to get venture capital funding for brands, Bedford remains confident about the brand’s opportunity and growth in 2023.
“It’s definitely more challenging today than it was about eight months ago,” Bedford said. “With that said, based on the success that we’re seeing in DTC as well as the national expansion of retail partners, we still have a lot of outreach from people who want to invest in us. … I think there’s always a market for fast-growing brands with the right product and market fit.”
