Beauty start-up turns profitable

Birchbox is no longer in the red.



The online subscription beauty retailer has achieved profitability, MediaPost reported, and is returning to television advertising with a spot that speaks to the joy the company’s monthly beauty box brings to its customers.



Founded in 2010, Birchbox had a tough 2016 during which it cut costs and laid off staff. But investments in technology and automation have helped it turn a corner.



Birchbox recently opened its second brick-and-mortar store, in Paris, where it had previously operated several successful pop-ups. (The first Birchbox store opened in 2014, in downtown Manhattan.) France is the brand’s biggest market in Europe.



“Retail has proven to be a powerful element of the Birchbox experience, and our stores helps consumers really understand the Birchbox personality,” Amanda Tolleson, head of marketing, told MediaPost. Customers who shop in our store have a three-times higher lifetime value with us, and our physical presence has helped open the door to working with a number of new brand partners.”



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