Super Salon cemented its strategy in arriving with stores where there are beauty salons and thus adds 138 points of sale |The financial

Inició como una pequeña sala de ventas en 2002, y ahora suma 138 tiendas en las siete provincias del país, 700 empleados, más de 12.000 productos de cuidado personal, la representación de más 40 marcas —más las propias— y casi 20 años de competencia en el mercado costarricense.

SuperSalon opted to be a place to acquire beauty products and equipment, both for the general public and for the professionals entitled in that race, to whom they provide a “affiliated price” where it is applied from 10% to 50%Discount on products.

Precisely, this form of work is that they base their growth and with which they try to differentiate themselves in the market, where the practice is that distributors visit the beauty salons one by one.

And now with its defined approach, with points of sale in communities far from the center of the country such as Puerto Jiménez, Ciudad Neilly,San Vito, Guatuso, Los Chiles and Cahuita prepare an expansion plan for the following years, with the premise of having “A store by Canton, ”said EF Gerardo Moreno, general manager of Grupo Moreno - propropietarios ofSuperSalon—.

Although the operations were not stopped for Grupo Moreno during the pandemic, thanks to the fact that in their laboratory they began to manufacture cleaning products such as gel alcohol, it did imply great challenges for their business structure.

For example, the dismissal of more than 46 collaborators, the closure of the headquarters inSan Ramón of its IECSA beauty school, as well as the incursion towards digital channels, especially for customers from areas outside the large metropolitan area (GAM).

On the other hand, the logistics crisis of the containers that directly impacts large products manufacturers in China, the UnitedStates and Europe, also affected the surrounding ofSuperSalon, because 70% of its products are imported from 53 factories in countriesLikeSpain, the UnitedStates and Italy.They also resort to suppliers in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and China.

According to beauty salons owners consulted by EF, theSuperSalon distributor popularly known as Pecosa, is placed as one of the largest in the country.

Also, there are other brands recognized as a cosmetic world that has begun to emerge in the market and that according to its website counts more than 40 stores around the country, specifically 14 inSan José (13 in shopping centers), five in Heredia, three inCarthage and Alajuela, two in lemon and one in Puntarenas.

EF tried to contact the cosmetic world through a phone call and email but at the close of this publication no response was obtained.

"When it comes to acquiring my products, I seek seriousness, punctuality with deliveries, good product inventory management, training of new brands and that the seller knows and can guide, and handle credit,"Sharon said,Sharon saidBerrocal, owner of the Jireh Beauty Center.

[Natural cosmetics, a trend dominated by entrepreneurs with artisanal production and even exports]

Super -Salon stores represent more than 40 beauty products manufacturers in the country, among the most prominent are: Babyliss, Revlon, Wahl, Palladio, Adell, Bloomer, Olivia Garden, ColorTech, Hydracolor, Thuya, Hipertin, Issue, Morocannoil.

And they also work with their own brands: Dana, Danalak, Famo and Biciana are beauty products manufactured by their Laboratory Ciriaco Moreno y CIA.S.A;its more line of cleaning products;and BikeSystems of Accessories and Equipment for Beauty Rooms.

“Our family business roots come from a laboratory that began in 1937, and today continues to manufacture brands, such as the traditional Danalak enamel;DesoFamo products and bike and BCN marks. Esto nos permite desarrollar hoy nuevos productos con el orgullo de ser costarricenses”, expresó Jorge Moreno, gerente financiero deSuperSalón.

She’s Not Wrong.As a Kid you first do Basic DigitalStuff, and The your mind starts asking likely.N ... https: // t.CO/SBN0HAKMH6

— Chaby Digital Tue Jul 06 09:17:38 +0000 2021

The general manager also explained that there are brands that manage exclusively for professionals, therefore, they do not exhibit them in stores for the public, but are sold directly through freckled and sellers, to beauty halls.

According to data provided by the General Directorate of Taxation, in 2021 7 were counted 7.621 taxpayers between beauty, hairdressing and barbershop.

A 29% drop in year -old variation, compared to 2019 when 10 were reached.863 taxpayers.By 2020, the variation towards decline was placed at 9%.

However, according to Berrocal of the Jireh Beauty Center, in recent years there has been an increase of professionals forming professionals in the area of beauty, at low cost and short duration.This has made the competition greater.

The support in the crisis

For Grupo Moreno, 2020 and the health crisis caused by COVID-19 translated into the manufacture of cleaning, alcohol and alcohol products in their laboratory to maintain their finances, as well as a “jump” to digital channels forguarantee closeness with customers.

In the digital part, they ventured into the www platform.Supersalonenlinea.com, la cual se enfocó en dar servicio a los clientes de las comunidades alejadas comoSan Vito, Puerto Jiménez, Ciudad Neilly, esto porque debido a la pandemia, los vendedores deSuperSalón ya no podían visitar tan seguido las tiendas de estas zonas y llevar los productos —por el aumento en los costos y las restricciones sanitarias—.

Por medio de un código —dado por la tienda deSuperSalón o el salón de belleza más cercano— se ingresa a la app, las personas pueden solicitar los artículos de preferencia y posteriormente,SuperSalón se lo lleva directamente a la casa por medio de Correos de Costa Rica.

However, they did not have so much luck in their other businesses, as in the case of their IECSA beauty school, which kept closed for more than a year. Incluso, cerraron por completo la sede deSan Ramón en enero de 2021, ya que no les era rentable seguir manteniendo el alquiler y el personal.

Currently, the IECSA headquarters on Central Avenue remain in operation but with a 50% capacity.This restriction directly influences costs, Moreno said.

Also, as a prevention measure - were forced to fire all the personnel who had less than three months in the company, approximately 46 people.This in order to level the pandemic situation and make decisions for the future.Sin embargo, para este año ya se recuperó la cifra y con la apertura de las nuevas tiendas, retomaron los procesos de contratación.

“We import from 53 different factories and within these factories more than 100 different brands are bought.Plus the brands that are manufactured here, ”said Moreno.

The manager indicated that "blissfully" have a good inventory that has helped them not run out of merchandise in these times of crisis. Esto porque la venta de las tiendas deSuperSalón es más al detalle, ya que sus productos no son de consumo diario.

“We have suppliers who have not been able to dispatch for the container crisis.For example, the orders of July, August andSeptember will enter this week (all three together), which was no longer sold in those three months is no longer going to be sold now.We have even felt more lack of product now than in pandemic.The price has risen a lot and we have been forced to make increases, because it is no longer profitable, ”he said.

"A store for each canton"

Para el 2022,SuperSalón espera llegar a la cifra de 150 tiendas.They are about to start remodeling one of them located in Alajuela, and are waiting for the bank to deliver a place at the Plaza Lincoln shopping center, to start remodeling another.

Para los años siguientes, proyectan abrir en Uvita de Quepos, Pital deSan Carlos, Palmar Norte, Cóbano,Santa Rosa de Pocosol y Auto Mercado de Cartago y esperan alcanzar 200 puntos de venta en todo el país como el objetivo de posicionar “una tienda en cada cantón”, dijo Moreno.

Una nueva apertura deSuperSalón puede implicar cerca de ¢20 a ¢30 millones, entre inventario y remodelaciones.

The family key

Grupo Moreno is a family business that adds 84 years of presence in the national market.Through time, they have diversified to provide other services beyond beauty, personal care and cosmetics, and have also dedicated themselves to creating businesses focused on technology, teaching, and the media.

No obstante, la cadena de tiendasSuperSalón representa un 70% de las ventas totales del Grupo.

The story began in 1937, with the creation of the Ciriaco Moreno and CIA cosmetics laboratory.S.A, founded by Ciriaco Moreno García and Maria Luisa Biciana Laureana.

Después, se colocó la segunda compañía 3-101-011167S.A —antes conocida como Perfumes y Cosméticos— con sus divisiones comerciales: distribuidora Pecosa, cadena de tiendasSuperSalón, el instituto de belleza IECSA, OpenSystems (servicios de cómputo), PuroMotor ySportivStore (bicicletas MMR). Y la más reciente, que arrancó operaciones en 2010 es la inmobiliaria CMB Morepark,S.A.

Moreno said that, like every family business, it has meant a challenge to stay constant over time, however, to take responsibility for decisions, distribute the tasks and the fact of getting involved in the company from an early age, has helped them continue to forgeHis career.Currently, the third and fourth generation of the group work.

“The key to maintaining a family business is to distribute tasks or make separations in companies, each one has their responsibility and fully trusts the decisions taken.In addition, all life since Chiquitillo I remember coming on weekends to work at the company, to pack products.That has been our tradition par excellence, ”said the manager.