Why is textured hair front-and-center for Sally Beauty?

“The textured hair category is incredibly important to us—expanding our assortment has been a long-standing priority for Sally Beauty,” ​Pam Kohn, Chief Merchandizing Officer at Sally Beauty tells Cosmetics Design.

“We have accomplished this by supporting emerging brands and working with established celebrity partners to ensure we have the right products and educational resources for all hair types,” ​adds Kohn.

Black-owned hair brands are a priority for Sally Beauty

As a national beauty distributor, Sally Beauty stands out for its comparatively early inclusion of Black-owned beauty and textured hair brands. Brands like The Mane Choice, Made Beautiful, and Mielle Organics were some of the first such brands in the Sally Beauty product mix.

And today the distributor and retailer boasts that over 100 “textured hair innovators” ​and more than 50 Black-founded brands across all hair categories as well as color cosmetics, skin care, and men’s grooming​.

Several of those brands have become a part of the Sally Beauty product assortment after being a part of the Sally Beauty Cultivate incubator program for women entrepreneurs. In fact when Cosmetics Design covered news of the 2020 Cultivate cohort, it was clear that that the textured hair category is gaining real momentum​.

Textured hair care isn’t one size fits all

Kohn’s Chief Merchandizing roll at Sally Beauty has her overseeing a team focused on product and consumer insights, category trends, and path-to-purchase strategy, she explains.

And beyond that, “a core focus of mine is the textured hair category and developing strategic ways to ensure this category is front and center to meet the needs of our customers when it comes to all types of textured hair,” ​Kohn tells Cosmetics Design.

She says that “whether a person’s textured hair is relaxed, natural, or in the process of transitioning, treatment products that repair damage and prevent breakage while providing moisturizing and conditioning benefits continue to be extremely popular.” ​But Kohn notes that there is shelf space and consumer demand for a diversity of brands adding that, “at Sally Beauty, we are proud to offer a wide assortment of hair care products that cater to all hair textures.”​

 And since Sally Beauty reaches to the pro beauty community as well at the DIY pro-sumer, Kohn highlights that “We are continuing to invest in virtual education opportunities and are expanding our DIY University by Sally Beauty platform to include classes. Our focus will start with textured hair classes led by Vernon François, Gabrielle Union, and Larry Sims, to name a few!”​