This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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Years ago, a strong retail strategy often included brands staying in one pricing category, such as mass, prestige or luxury. Today, those best practices have come into question.
“It’s strategic, … and it’s also nerve-racking at the same time,” Rosie Jane Johnston, founder of fine fragrance and body-care line By Rosie Jane, told Glossy about her company’s expansion into the mass market this month through Target. “It’s always been in the back of my mind to make By Rosie Jane, particularly the body-care side of the brand, accessible in a real way.”
As of this week, Johnston is executing against that goal with a strategic expansion onto Target.com — the line’s first and only mass retailer — with just the brand’s body-care line, which Johnston developed during the pandemic.
“Body care is a new category for us, [and] we take it very seriously,” Johnston said. “I don’t want [this expansion] to just feel like an extension of my perfume line — that’s a different experience. I want this experience to be something unique.”
By Rosie Jane launched with a clean, fine fragrance direct-to-consumer in 2012 before expanding into Sephora in 2019. The brand currently offers seven fine fragrances. It also sells through Revolve, Nordstrom and other select retailers, and has maintained its DTC channel.
By Rosie Jane has sold limited-edition body-care extensions of its fine fragrance in the past, including body oil and body wash in best-selling scents like Rosie or Missy. But today, Johnston is focused on three new fragrance franchises called Wake the F Up, Calm the F Down and Chill the F Out.
Based on mood-boosting ingredients like essential oils, the line is meant to evoke feel-good emotions and was inspired by Johnston’s menopause journey. The line includes body wash, oil, lotion and deodorant all priced between $15-$42. To start, the products will be sold on Target.com, though the hope is to further expand to Target stores. By Rosie Jane fine fragrances will remain exclusive to retailers like Sephora and Nordstrom, while the body-care will be offered at both mass and prestige retailers.
According to a rep from By Rosie Jane, the company is set to reach $10 million in sales in 2024, with body care making up around 8% of revenue.
Johnston joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss her brand’s expansion, including her hopes for the body-care category. Excerpts from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
On selling prestige products through a mass channel
“It’s about bringing something different, right? I think a lot of people who work with Target, or want to work with Target, are looking for a particular product or a particular price point, but we really went in there with a prestige line [that we are] not watering down. We’re not saying, ‘Hey, let’s make this $8.99 to get onto the shelves of Target.’ It was like, ‘We’re pretty sure our customer is there, and we would love to try this with you guys.’ We took sort of a unique approach to it.”
On forming two paths for the business
“This is a very strategic push for me and for By Rosie Jane, to start to separate away from being primarily just fragrance. Fragrance is my passion; it’s what I love. The way that I approach fragrance is incorporated into the body collection, but this is sort of me saying, ‘I’m putting a clear marker in the ground.’ Body care is a new category for us, [and] we take it very seriously. … I don’t want it to just feel like an extension of my perfume line. … I want this experience for the Wake, Calm and Chill body care [products] to be something unique [for the Target shopper].”
